Cleaning of beaches and rivers will close Oceans Month

Organizers of the XXVIII National Cleaning of Panama Beaches, Rivers and Coasts on Sunday, September 29, at the end of  activities marking  the International  Month of the Oceans are seeking to exceed the 50 locations tackled in 2018

According to figures from the garbage collection authority,(AAUD)  up to 1 million plastic bottles have been collected in past operations, in addition to hundreds of tires, washing machines, refrigerators, and mattresses.

Registration is open through the NGO’s heading the initiative: Promar, National Association for Nature Conservation (Ancon), the Audubon Society of Panama and Panama Verde.

In 2018, 5,300 volunteers

“Beach cleanups are not the solution, but they help expose the problem, add volunteers for the planet and that more people are part of the change,” said Rita Spadafora, executive director of Ancon, at a Tuesday press conference.

“It is terrible to see problems such as logging in Darien or fires in the Amazon, but we don’t see environmental damage under water and 70% of the planet is underwater. It is sad to dive and find sick corals, without fish. We are water and still do not stop contaminating it, ”said  José Agustín de Obaldía, from Promar.