THE Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) and the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines have teamed up for an action plan on marine litter.

Marina, through the Shipyards Regulations Service (SRS), and the WWF Philippines facilitated a virtual pre-forum on marine environment protection, a precursor to the 2nd Marine Environmental Protection Forum.

The virtual pre-forum was officially opened by engineer Nannette VillamorDinopol, Marina deputy administrator for operations, and was attended by various concerned stakeholders from different private organizations and government agencies last September 9.

“The rapidly increasing number of marine litter, including plastic litter and microplastics, is now a serious environmental problem seen on a global scale. This crisis continues to negatively affect marine life and biodiversity, its ecosystems, livelihoods, fisheries, as well as the maritime transport, recreation, tourism and economies,” Marina said.

Marina and the WWF discussed with relevant port authorities the science of marine plastic litter and its impact. They have consolidated the summary of policies and programs of relevant port authorities and government agencies. They wanted to raise awareness of the policies and programs implemented by the Department of Science and Technology (DoST), Cebu Ports Authority (CPA) and Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA). They also discussed and finalized their action plan on marine litter.

Dr. Fabian Dayrit, emeritus professor at Ateneo de Manila University and academician of the National Academy of Science and Technology, made a presentation on “Plastics and Marine Litter.”

Engineer Niñaliza Escorial, deputy executive director of DoST-Pcieerd, presented the “Innovation works for the people, addressing marine plastic litter in the Philippines through research and development,” while Vincent Cabucos, environmental specialist of Cebu Ports Authority, presented CPA’s Marine Environment Protection initiatives on marine plastic litter.

The discussions on the draft strategic action plan for maritime plastic litter were led by engineer Ramon Hernandez, director 2 at SRS-Marina, and Czarina Constantino-Panopio of WWF Philippines.

The 2nd Marine Environmental Protection Forum will be held in a hybrid face-to-face arrangement on Sept. 23, 2022.