How 60,000 discarded flip-flops ended up on a remote island
In different parts of the world, environmental catastrophes happen in different ways. In Australia and California last year, it was a series of ferocious wildfires. In Venezuela and Mauritius, there were massive oil spills. In the Horn of Africa, locusts.聽
And at the remote Aldabra atoll in Seychelles, disaster is unfolding in the form of abandoned fishing gear and 60,000 discarded flip-flops.
That footwear composed about a quarter of the nearly 28 tons of plastic debris collected over five weeks in 2019 by the (ACUP), a team of 12 volunteers from Seychelles and Oxford University. The project鈥檚 aim was to put a number to the atoll鈥檚 marine plastic pollution problem and to calculate the cost of cleaning it up. In a published in Scientific Reports in September 2020, the team estimated that they had collected about 5% of the total amount of litter that had washed up on the atoll.
Why We Wrote This
Small island nations are most severely impacted by plastic litter carried in by ocean currents. How can they afford to bear the burden of the world鈥檚 trash?
Thanks to a convergence of ocean currents, some of the most remote islands on Earth 鈥� small island countries like Seychelles and Maldives in the Indian Ocean as well as islands in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Caribbean 鈥� are bearing the brunt of the world鈥檚 marine plastic pollution.
The problem is getting worse: A study published in July 2020 by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that, if current trends continue, plastic flows into the ocean are expected to by 2040, reaching 32 million tons 鈥� the equivalent of about 35 pounds for every foot of the world鈥檚 coastlines. And in December, the marine conservation organization Oceans Asia reported that an estimated likely ended up in the oceans in 2020.
The good news is that immediate action could stem that flow by 80%, according to the Pew study. Many countries 鈥� with the of the United States 鈥� say they are prepared to do just that. At a in November, two-thirds of United Nations member states declared that they are open to a global treaty aimed at reducing plastic waste. As with all environmental initiatives, the first step requires measuring the extent of the problem, which means more local projects like the ACUP.
鈥淩egional solutions that provide economies of scale, supported by international expertise and financing, will be the only way our natural heritage and landfills will not receive waste from other countries,鈥� says Jeremy Raguain, communications and outreach coordinator at the Seychelles Islands Foundation and one of the authors of the Scientific Reports paper.
An uninhabited oasis for turtles 鈥� and trash
The Aldabra atoll, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, lies more than 700 miles from Seychelles鈥� main island of Mah茅. The nearest human settlement is 400 miles away, on the African coast. This coral atoll, one of the world鈥檚 largest, is home to the only wild population of the Aldabra giant tortoise, and is a crucial nesting site for the vulnerable green turtle.聽
Despite being uninhabited and strictly protected by the, the islands of the remote Aldabra atoll are said to have聽more plastic聽trash per square foot than聽any聽other聽island on Earth.聽The debris, carried by ocean currents, has not only harmed wildlife 鈥� preventing turtles from nesting, choking birds who have ingested the plastic, entangling marine creatures 鈥� but also damaged entire ecosystems.
鈥淲e do not yet know the full impact of plastic accumulation on Aldabra,鈥� says April Burt, a Ph.D. student at Oxford鈥檚 Department of Plant Sciences and the Scientific Reports paper鈥檚 lead author. She notes that corals are more likely to become stressed when plastic is present in the water.
鈥淭his could have an even more devastating impact on coral reefs in the region, which are already affected by several other threats,鈥� she says.
A price tag 鈥渂eyond our capacity鈥�
Most of the plastic litter on Aldabra is a result of Seychelles鈥� tuna-fishing industry, an important source of foreign income for the island nation. Of the more than 550 tons of litter that the team estimated remains on the atoll, 83% is聽, such as buoys, nets, and rope, says Ms. Burt.聽
鈥淭he tuna industry is polluting with impunity the very ecosystems it needs to sustain and at huge cost to the regional communities who rely on these ecosystems,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he industry is not paying for the damage they have done.鈥�
The ACUP team calculated that clearing Aldabra of 95% of the litter remaining on the atoll would require a staggering $4.68 million 鈥� a price that Seychelles simply can鈥檛 afford.
Another major challenge faced by such nations is the lack of specialized recycling technology. In Seychelles, only PET plastic, glass, paper, and aluminum can be commercially recycled, says Mr. Raguain.
鈥淭he variety of pollution ending up on Aldabra鈥檚 shores, as well as its state of degradation, is beyond our capacity to manage,鈥� he says.聽
鈥淚n the long term, the cost of removing plastic from protected areas like Aldabra will fall upon already-strained conservation resources and SIDS [small island developing states] taxpayers,鈥� says Rolph Payet, former Seychelles minister for environment, currently serving as the executive secretary for the secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm conventions. 鈥淪eychelles and other SIDS should continue to strongly advocate for concrete and measurable action against the major polluters.鈥�
As there is no cost data from any other island cleanups, the calculations from the ACUP are also meant to help Seychelles and other SIDS in planning their marine litter cleanups, which in turn would help them in requesting funding and assistance from the international community.聽
While the extent of plastic pollution on Aldabra is alarming, Brendan Godley, professor of conservation science at the University of Exeter, remains hopeful. 鈥淧lastic pollution is an avoidable problem, and there is a tangible link between our actions and their consequences,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e can all be part of the solution.鈥�
