The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) through the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) spearheaded a learning event underscoring the basic issues, sources, threats, mechanisms and pathways of marine litter on November 4 to 5, 2020 via the zoom platform.

           The learning event which was participated in by the             Marine Protected Area Superintendents (PASUs), Regional Conservation and Development Division (CDD) Chiefs, Regional Planning and Management Division (PMD) Chiefs, Regional Public Affairs Office (RPAO) Chiefs, and BMB technical staff threshed out the following: (1) Marine Litter Baseline Assessment in the global, national, regional and local context; (2) illegal and prohibited acts in aquatic ecosystems; (3) international policies and declarations on marine litter; (4) management of solid waste with focus on the 3Rs; (5) updates on the development of the National Plan of Action for the prevention, reduction and management of marine litter; (6) plastics as threats to Philippine Marine Biodiversity; and (7) Peoples Organizations’ initiatives on the reduction of marine plastic pollution.

            The online training aimed to augment the knowledge of the DENR Marine Protected Area Superintendents on global and regional policies, frameworks, programs and initiatives on the prevention and management of marine litter.

            Marine litter is a complex and a multi-dimensional problem mainly caused by human activities in the upstream. Persistence of marine litter in the environment threatens the future of oceans and marine biodiversity.