A whopping 128 kilograms of plastic waste was removed from the waters of northwest Bali’s beautiful Menjangan Island in West Bali National Park over the weekend.
In a vigorous Dive for Conservation and Underwater program led by the West Bali National Park on Sunday, 60 divers managed to clear the plastic waste that had been stuck to the island’s reef.
The divers that came were personnel from West Bali National Park, as well as East Java’s Alas Purwo National Park, the Perancak Marine Observation and Research Agency, and other relevant agencies.
Divers spread out over 175 hectares to manually collect the rubbish, which was predominantly food and drink plastic packaging. The rubbish collected was transported off of Menjangan by boat for further processing, local reports said.
Within an average week, the total amount of garbage transported out of Menjangan reaches approximately 300 kilograms—which doesn’t even include the trash removed from the reef, according to Tribun Bali.
“The total garbage collected from February to May 2017 reached three tons for Menjangan Island. The entire West Bali National Park area reached five tons,” West Bali National Park Manager Wiryawan told Tribun on Sunday.
This weekend’s cleaning is a part of a regular weekly cleaning of Menjangan under the National Nature Conservation Day framework, says Wiryawan.
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