Establishing a Baseline of Marine Plastic Litter in the Philippines

Funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australian Embassy in the Philippines, this project’s goal is to establish a national baseline of marine plastic litter in the Philippines. The project aims to strengthen land and sea-based litter management, provide recommendations for the development of a harmonised litter monitoring programme across the Philippines, and establish a plastic litter monitoring plan that enables Asia-Pacific Regional estimates and comparisons that achieve national and regional objectives. The project will bring together the expertise of colleagues from organisations around the Philippines who work on plastic pollution research, monitoring, and management, and discuss the opportunities for establishing a monitoring plan that can be used to identify, implement, and measure the effectiveness of future waste reduction strategies. The project will also build capacity among staff working in national focal agencies and other relevant local and national government entities in Philippines on marine litter monitoring methods and develop an awareness raising program to reduce littering in the Philippines, including community surveys/focus groups to identify barriers and inform an appropriate intervention.