The Secretariats of the RAMOGE and Pelagos Intergovernmental Agreements Take Action to Reduce Marine Waste

Robert Calcagno, Director of the Oceanographic Museum, with Anne Vissio, Executive Secretary of the RAMOGE Agreement, on the left, and Fannie Dubois, Executive Secretary of the Pelagos Agreement, on the right © Government Communication Department/Manuel 

The secretariats of the RAMOGE and Pelagos Agreements held a colloquium to raise coastal and inland municipalities' awareness of the issue of marine waste.  This symposium took place on 12 September 2017 at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco.  Scientists, representatives of the countries that are party to the Agreements (France, Monaco and Italy) and local players took part.

The highlights of this symposium, the aim of which was to promote practical measures, were environmental and health issues related to marine waste, government actions to combat this type of pollution and innovative initiatives to put an end to it.

The issue of waste reduction is a shared concern for the RAMOGE and Pelagos Agreements, because of the pollution that threatens marine species, particularly marine mammals.

Bearing in mind that 80% of the waste is from land-based sources, it is essential to take preventive action to avoid detritus that is thrown away in the natural environment ending up in the sea.