The Launch Of The National Beach Cleanup Day in Cameroon.

The Cameroon National Beach Cleanup Day was launched on the 19th of January, 2023 by the Association of Community Awareness (ASCOA), in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and the Government of the southwest region of the country.

The Association of Community Awareness is an international non-profit organization that is concerned with the conservation of the marine ecosystem, the community, and the health of the people. The organization is also involved in Capacity building, Community awareness/Sensitization, Activism, Advocacy, Policy dialogues, and Organizational, Governmental, and International partnerships. Cameroon is the largest producer of plastics in central Africa, with about 75 tons of trash and plastic waste recovered annually from the beach and coastal regions of Cameroon. The beach which used to be a tourist site has long turned into a site for debris and plastic waste, and this causes environmental pollution and also poses a huge challenge to fishermen who go fishing in the coastal towns of Limbe. Marine lives are not left out as it endangers the species in the water and blocks the marine ecosystem from effectively acting as carbon sinks. The ASCOA are on a mission to combat marine debris and plastic pollution in the coastal regions and beach, hence, the official launch of the beach cleanup day.

This National Beach Cleanup Day was launched at the National Conference on Coastal Cleanup with the theme ‘addressing marine debris and plastic pollution through advocacy and education for sustainable ocean and coastline. This conference which took place in Mountain Hotal, Buea, Cameroon on the 19th of January, 2023, was graced by Government officials, local and international non-profit organizations, Youth-led organizations, civic and community-led organizations, as well as the Governor of the southwest region who was represented,  and also the Fishers association of Cameroon. The conference featured expert presentations on the negative effects of plastics and debris on marine ecosystems and biodiversity in Cameroon, sustainable waste management through recycling and waste-to-energy technologies, and the exhibition of recycled waste materials, while highlighting the problems of marine pollution and its effect on the marine ecosystem and the local community.  Proposed solutions and resolutions were made, and the Cameroon Beach Cleanup Day (CBCD) was announced as one of the solutions which will be commemorated on the 21st of January every year. This yearly exercise is to help curb coastal plastic pollution.

The conference was followed by the first edition of the Cameroon beach cleanup exercise which took place on the 21st of January, 2023. This beach cleanup exercise was carried out in the coastal town of Limbe, Cameroon, and had over 1000 volunteers from various organizations and institutions like the ‘Source Du Pays’, Limbe City Council hygiene and sanitation department, Hygiene and sanitation company, For Earth’s sake from the Littoral region, and other participant volunteers.

According to the CEO of the ASCOA, Linus Ayangwoh Embe, the initiative was specifically launched to address the issue of plastic pollution and debris in the coastal regions of Cameroon through activism and activities that address these challenges, while also combatting these plastic pollution problems through advocacy and sensitization. The southwest regional delegate on environment and culture protection, Set Ekwadi Songe, stated that more organizations and volunteers will be trained on the management of plastics for a more sustainable and progressive environmental change.

Before the Cameroon Beach Cleanup Day, the ASCOA team went on an awareness campaign to various National and local media houses to sensitize the nation on the green economy and ocean conservation, as well as the launch of the Cameroon Beach Cleanup Day. Media houses like HiTV; Dream FM; Eden radio; MyMedia Prime TV, Douala; Tiko community radio; and Eternity gospel radio, Limbe were all visited before the launch of the National Beach Cleanup Day.