Taking Part in Seto Inland Sea Cleanup Campaign with Four Governors, 1,000 Volunteers, Collecting 26 Tons of Marine Debris (2)

 

The cleanup rally in Okayama Prefecture was held at Asahigawa Riverside, Okayama City, on July 5 under the “Setouchi Oceans X” project launched by The Nippon Foundation and Okayama and three other prefectures that together encircle the Seto Inland Sea.

Okayama City has large riverbeds and crisscrossing waterways that carry trash from residential homes into the ocean. This cleanup activity brought renewed attention to the fact that much ocean debris originates on land.

Governor Ryuta Ibaragi told some 260 participants that the day’s cleanup drive “reconfirmed the importance of collecting debris before it flows into the ocean. Okayama Prefecture is using subsidies to build a framework for ongoing activities and will continue to support this momentum. Our prefecture has many irrigation channels, and we are identifying hot spots to promote cleanup activities in areas of the prefecture where they are most needed,” he added.

The cleanup drive in Hiroshima Prefecture took place on Arajiro Beach in Etajima City. Hiroshima Bay is well known for oyster cultivation, and there are many areas along the coast where plastic foam floats attached to rafts used for oyster farming break away and wash up on shore along with other plastic waste. On this day, some 200 people associated with fisheries industries and other volunteers participated in the cleanup.

Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki stated: “This joint activity among the four prefectures was an important opportunity for participants to share their thoughts and raise awareness. Roughly 60% of the debris that washes onto the shores of Hiroshima Prefecture is related to fishing, and in particular oyster cultivation. So we are cooperating with local people engaged in fishing and cultivating activities to promote thorough management and collection of plastic foam. I hope that measures to reduce plastic and prevent it from flowing into the ocean will be strengthened across the entire Seto Inland Sea going forward.”

In Ehime Prefecture, the cleanup rally was held in Goshogahama in Ikata Town. Large amounts of residential and fishing-related trash drift onto the coast along the northern side of the Sadamisaki Peninsula, and seasonal winds cause this to become mixed with sand from the beach and accumulate. 

On this day, a landing craft was used to transport heavy equipment with sieves to separate the sand from the large volume of debris and efficiently collect the plastic trash. So much debris was collected that a crane and forklift brought by the landing craft were used to move it.

Governor Tokihiro Nakamura told the participants: “Today’s cleanup at Goshogahama, using heavy machinery to collect debris more efficiently, reconfirmed the need to address this issue swiftly in order to pass on a beautiful Seto Inland Sea to the next generation. Together with The Nippon Foundation, we have been using landing vehicles to collect trash around the Nanyo area, and going forward, I hope that local towns, fishery cooperatives, and volunteers will cooperate to maintain the coastline after the trash has been collected.”

After returning home late in the evening from Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, I departed from Haneda International Airport for Bali on a nine-day trip to Indonesia and Myanmar.

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