Marine Litter Assessment in the Mediterranean - 2015

UNEP/MAP has launched its new updated Marine Litter Assessment in the Mediterranean on 26 May 2016, within the framework of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), held in Kenya, Nairobi. Marine litter has been confirmed as a critical issue in the Mediterranean, exacerbated by the basinв↬↢s limited hydrologic exchanges with other oceans, as well as pressures from its densely-populated coasts, highly-developed tourism, along with the impacts of 30 percent of the worldв↬↢s maritime traffic transiting the Mediterranean sea and additional inputs of litter from rivers and heavily urbanized areas. The report is based on the 2008 assessment of the status of marine litter in the Mediterranean prepared by UNEP/MAP MED POL, and reconfirms a number of its findings. Compared to the 2008 assessment, this updated report provides data on waste and plastic inputs to the sea for each Mediterranean country and specifies the most important sources of litter, changes in their composition and transport patterns presenting updated results of modelling and provides a comprehensive review of existing data for the four compartments of the marine environment (beaches, surface, seabed, and ingested litter). It also provides original data and information on micro-plastics, on derelict fishing gear and their impact and details the general reduction measures, especially those that are important for the Mediterranean Sea. The results of monitoring and national and regional studies on marine litter have been also integrated.