2024-10-1

World Cleanup Day” (WCD), initiated in Estonia in 2008, has become the largest environmental civic action in the world over the past 15 years. Currently, 211 countries and over 19 million people, accounting for 1.1% of the world’s population, have participated. The year 2024 marks the first year that WCD is officially included in the United Nations calendar, with the theme “Make Room For Life.” This theme calls on everyone to pay attention to the impact of human behavior on the Earth’s ecology and to work together to create a world where all life can live freely and comfortably!

On September 20th, Taiwan hosted an event organized by Let's Do It Taiwan (LDI Taiwan) and National Taiwan Ocean University as part of the “Gongliao Beautiful Mountain, Sea, and River Regional Development Deepening Project.” This event included a beach cleanup at Mao’ao Fishing Harbor and a cultural tour of Magang Fishing Village and its Ama divers.

Coinciding with three consecutive typhoons, a significant amount of marine debris accumulated around the harbor, making the cleanup challenging. In the morning, a total of 195 kilograms of trash was collected. The event concluded with a live broadcast on WCD’s global livestream, showcasing Taiwan’s cleanup efforts and introducing three Ama divers to the world, highlighting Taiwan’s rich and diverse culture.

LDI Taiwan representative and Sustainability Director, Ho Kai-Hsuan, stated: “The 2024 Taiwan WCD Mao’ao Coast Main Event is a prime example of achieving SDG 17, ‘Partnerships for the Goals,’ by bringing together communities, academia, businesses, and international NGO. When collaboration begins, new hope arises!”

LDI Taiwan extend their heartfelt gratitude to the French Chamber Taiwan for inviting its foreign business members to participate. The main event saw participation from the following companies: Crédit Agricole・CIB., ID Logistics Co., Ltd., Edenred Co Ltd. Taiwan Branch, Pernod Ricard Taiwan Co., Ltd., and Slasify Co., Ltd.

The afternoon session was co-organized by the San Diego Cultural Development Association of New Taipei City. Through guided tours led by local professional instructors, participants delved into the local life of the fishing village, following the “Ama” divers along the intertidal zone to listen to  their special fishing way and stories. The aim is to preserve this precious intangible cultural heritage. 

This event not only included a beach cleanup but also incorporated citizen science activities. Associate Professor Ho Ying-Ning from the Institute of Marine Biology at National Taiwan Ocean University, along with his graduate students, demonstrated how to collect seawater samples. These valuable marine samples were taken back to the laboratory for environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis to further study the impact of marine debris on the ecosystem.

LDI Taiwan hopes to use this collaboration model as a foundation to advance the marine debris detection citizen science and data platform project, extending from Taiwan to other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. We look forward to partnering with those who are passionate about marine science, data science, and water resource systems to join us.

LDI Taiwan would like to thank the Ministry of Education for sending official documents to various educational institutions, resulting in numerous teachers and students across the country independently organizing cleanup activities. In the north, there is the sunrise beach cleanup promoted by Heping Island Geopark, and in the south, the Pingtung Science Elites from the Chen Li Education Foundation are actively participating. Multiple cleanup activities will continue throughout September, and we welcome the public to check online for more information and join us in making the world cleaner and living in harmony with nature.

Article courtesy of LDI Taiwan