“Therefore, if we want a clean ocean, we must change our behavior on shore and link the solution to the source, which is upstream.”Ī new project driven by the South African Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries aims to do exactly that.

“Eighty per cent of marine litter originates on land, mediated through flash floods and river inputs,” said Jared Bosire, Project Manager with the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Regional Seas Programme. Every year, up to 250,000 tonnes of litter is dumped into the oceans around South Africa. Photo by Lisa Guastellaīut just where is all this waste coming from? Plastic clogs Cuttings Beach near Durban. And it can find its way into the human food chain. It’s often ingested by birds, mammals, and fish, causing them to choke or become sick. It becomes entangled in nets and other fishing equipment. This marine litter can damage ship engines and propellers. Every year, between 90,000 and 250,000 tonnes of rubbish enter the oceans that surround the country. What’s happening to Kwazulu-Natal’s beaches is part of a larger marine litter crisis in South Africa. After a storm, heaps of plastic bags and bottles pile up on Durban’s shores with the current transporting some rubbish hundreds of kilometers down the coast.

Downpours accelerate the flow of polluted upstream rivers, sending their litter cascading into the sea, including around the city of Durban. International and local tourists flock here in normal times, drawn to the warm Indian Ocean waters for surfing, relaxation, and glimpses of spectacular wildlife, like loggerhead turtles.īut heavy rains can transform this beautiful coast in a flash. The coast of South Africa’s Kwazulu-Natal province looks like it was pulled from a postcard, with wide, sandy beaches stretching for some 600 kilometres.

U.n. calls sweeping action root out