Cleaning up coastal Penang, and ICC Singapore

New Straits Times 27 Sep 09;

The idea of holding a coastal clean-up in Penang was mooted by Penangite Alison Wee, who is pursuing her doctorate in Mangrove Kinetics at the National University of Singapore.

GEORGE TOWN: The newly-initiated International Coastal Clean-up Penang (ICCP) 2009 may help influence policy changes to protect and preserve the marine diversity in the state.

The ICCP 2009, organised in conjunction with the annual international event coordinated by the Ocean Conservancy that promotes healthy and diverse ocean ecosystems, saw about 320 participants from various organisations combing the white sandy beaches of Pasir Pandak and Teluk Aling near the Penang National Park in Teluk Bahang for garbage.

The clean-up, however, was no mere gotong-royong, as the garbage would be sent for data collection by the event organiser, Universiti Sains Malaysia's Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (Cemacs).

Cemacs director Dr Khairun Yahya said the data collection would reveal what sort of foreign materials were prominent on the coastline and how they could endanger marine life and other creatures.

She hoped such data would pave the way for the implementation of laws and regulations that protect the sea.

The idea of holding a coastal clean-up in Penang was mooted by Penangite Alison Wee, who is pursuing her doctorate in Mangrove Kinetics at the National University of Singapore.

Wee said such coastal clean-ups had been held in Singapore for the last 18 years and data collected from the programmes had led to the banning of smoking on beaches.

"If we find a lot of plastic bags here, we may be able to push for the banning of plastic bags on beaches," she said.

Volunteers collect 677kg of rubbish in beach clean-up
The Star 27 Sep 09;

GEORGE TOWN: The stretch of the fine sandy beach at Teluk Aling in the Penang National Park appeared clean at first glance but proved otherwise to a group of people taking part in a coastal clean-up.

Hidden among the creepers and vegetation at the top of the beach were loads of rubbish, including a rusty anchor and a broken computer printer.

Some 150 volunteers who took part in the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) Penang 2009 yesterday also found plastic bags, polystyrene containers, cigarette butts, slippers, clothes, fluorescent light tubes, fishing nets and pieces of zinc among other rubbish.

Besides Teluk Aling, they also combed the nearby 300m-long Pantai Pandak during the two-hour clean-up.

The participants collected 2,517 items, weighing a total of 677kg, which filled 67 trash bags.

The clean-up was organised by the Centre For Marine & Coastal Studies (Cemas), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Lions Club International District 308 B2 and ICC Singapore.

The ICC is an annual event held on the third Saturday of September which is co-ordinated by US-based Ocean Conservancy, a non-profit environmental advocacy organisation that promotes healthy ocean ecosystems.

More links
International Coastal Cleanup Penang a success! from News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore.