Objectives

The action aims at contributing to overall reduction in, (1) the number of visible (> 2.5 cm) litter items on coastlines including plastic, fishing and sanitary litter items on coastlines; (2) the number of litter items per square meter on the sea bed including fishing related litter items on the sea bed from 2012 levels by 2020, in Odessa, in Ukraine; Bourgas, in Bulgaria; Guria, in Georgia and Tekirdağ, in Turkey. In this regard, the action will undertake, (1) four 'Fishing for Litter' campaigns (one in each country) with local fishermen collecting min. 1,5 tonnes of derelict fishing gear from the sea-bed; (2) four beach clean-up campaigns (one in each country) with 7-16 age group children and their teachers collecting min. 0,5 tonnes of litter from beaches. Moreover, 40 primary / secondary schools (15 from Turkey, 5 from Bulgaria, 10 from Ukraine, 10 from Georgia), 50 NGOs (15 from Turkey, 5 from Bulgaria, 20 from Ukraine, 10 from Georgia) and 25 local media organisations (10 from Turkey, 5 from Bulgaria, 7 from Ukraine, 3 from Georgia) will be involved in the Ecosystem Education Program (EEP) which has already been started within ILMM-BSE project for environmental education and public awareness in Turkey, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Georgia.