by Jeong Ilwoong
Published 16 Sep.2022 15:12(KST)
[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Chungnam Province is creating a marine debris distribution map. The map will be used in the future to establish marine debris collection and management plans.
On the 16th, the province announced that it held the "Chungnam Marine Debris Distribution Status Survey and Management Plan (1st Year) Research Service Final Report Meeting" at the Climate and Environment Research Institute of Chungnam Research Institute.
The report meeting was organized to review the current status and countermeasures of marine debris on 33 inhabited and uninhabited islands in the Chungnam region.
The research company, West Coast Climate and Environment Research Institute, shared the contents of the first-year research conducted over one year since September last year and presented future management and utilization plans based on this.
The Chungnam marine debris distribution status survey is part of the province's flagship project, the "Marine Debris Zero Project," which is being promoted with a project budget of 23.3 billion KRW over five years from last year to 2025.
The first-year status survey focused on conducting a comprehensive survey of island areas in seven coastal cities and counties within the province to investigate the distribution status of debris and the current state of debris management, aiming to derive collection and management plans for marine debris in island areas.
First, the status survey created a marine debris distribution map for 33 inhabited and uninhabited islands in the seven cities and counties, collecting data on seasonal distribution characteristics, material characteristics, and the status of untreated marine debris on the islands.
Through the survey, the research company identified problems such as long-term abandonment due to the difficulty of continuous collection because of island characteristics, and accumulation mixed with household waste, proposing collection and management plans tailored to the characteristics of each island.
They also suggested ways to utilize the research results, including support linked with marine environment cleanup vessels and the wide-area marine resource recycling center, installation of separate waste storage sites on islands, and establishment of resident-led management systems.
The province plans to establish a systematic collection and management plan by understanding the current amount of marine debris and the status of post-collection storage (abandonment) based on the first-year island area survey and the upcoming second-year land (coastal) and third-year submerged marine debris surveys.
In particular, they plan to create a marine debris monitoring distribution map to develop marine debris collection technology based on accurate location information and improve collection and management efficiency through equipment modernization.
A provincial official said, "The province is currently conducting the first nationwide full survey that subdivides marine debris distribution status by island, coastal, and submerged debris," adding, "Based on the results of the first to third-year surveys, we will prepare marine debris management plans suitable for the marine environmental characteristics of the province."
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