Coral Triangle Day will be celebrated on June 9 this year.
The Regional Secretariat of Coral Triangle Initiative together with its six member countries are organising the event, with the theme “Save Coral Triangle – Stop Plastic Pollution”.
Solomon Islands is a member of the Coral Triangle Initiative.
The theme aims at generating awareness and real action in addressing the growing number of plastic waste going into the ocean and endanger the marine ecosystem – from coral reefs, fishes, sea birds, endangered species, to food security in a large perspective.
Plastic pollution is becoming a major problem for coastal and marine life on the planet.
It has been reported that roughly eight million tons of plastic waste is dumped into the ocean every year, according to a study released by the Ocean Conservancy and McKinsey Center for Business and Environment in 2015.
The report mentioned that five countries are responsible for up to 60 percent of plastic waste entering our ocean. In the Coral Triangle region, Indonesia and the Philippines are on the list, after China, Thailand, and Vietnam.
“Plastic pollution has become a real threat to marine ecosystem life, as it directly affects both the coral and marine species that live on it – in addition to that, the impact of plastic pollution could also disrupt food security for the people who are dependant on the marine resources as their main livelihood,” said Widi A. Pratikto Ph.D., Executive Director of CTI-CFF.
“We can take some real actions in fighting the plastic pollution which will ended to the ocean by pledging to help reduce marine debris and encourage others to do the same (NT3 Pledge: No Trash No Trail No Trace); Reduce our plastic and trash habit with reusable grocery bags, reusable containers and straws and buying products with less packaging while also joining clean-up activities near our premises,” added Widi.
The Coral Triangle—the nursery of the seas—is the world’s center of marine life, encompassing around 6 million sq. km of ocean across six countries in Asia-Pacific – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste.
§ It is home to 76% of the world’s known coral species, 37% of the world’s coral reef fish species, and commercially valuable species such as tuna, whales, dolphins, rays, sharks, including 6 of the world’s 7 known species of marine turtles.
§ The Coral Triangle directly sustains the lives of more than 130 million people and contains key spawning and nursery grounds for tuna. Its reef and coastal systems also underpin a growing tourism sector.
