Leachate & overflow of waste materials in our mangroves have become a major concern – Deo
We need to act with urgency and some seriousness to preserve and protect the remaining mangrove forests as leachate and overflow of waste materials from dumpsites have become a major concern that authorities need to look into, said the Founder of the Pacific Recycling Foundation, Mr. Amitesh Deo.
In his message for the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem, which will be celebrated on the 26th of July, Mr. Deo said there are dumpsites which are located close to the sea, and our mangroves are in great danger due to increasing levels of waste materials that dumpsites are not equipped to deal with.
He said another area that needs great attention with solutions is those people who reside near waterfront areas, particularly in informal settlements who are not part of any proper waste management system and usually look at the simplest ways of disposing of them.
According to Mr. Deo, we need to prioritise these communities and provide them with proper waste management solutions as the chances of their waste materials ending up in the mangroves are high.
He said we really cannot blame these people if we have not provided them with solutions.
“It is also becoming increasingly important to lessen the burden on our dumpsites and landfill through proper waste management systems as leachate and overflow of waste are significantly contributing to the degradation of our mangroves,” said the PRF Founder.
He said this is why proper waste management, in particular recycling initiatives, is critical and needs to be given importance for a healthy mangrove ecosystem.
“Sometimes too much focus is diverted toward planting mangroves or one-off clean-up campaigns to mark environmental sustainability however many times we forget to appreciate and mitigate the causes of mangrove degradation. One of the reasons is that waste management is a topic that not many want to talk about or gets the least priority, and this has been evident in recent discussions that the PRF has been involved in,” said Mr. Deo.
He said we need to move quickly into looking at the current state of some of our dumpsites and what sort of environmental hazard they pose.
“We would also like to mark the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem by saluting the efforts of our Collection Pillars of Recycling, those who are involved in waste picking at dumpsites and other locations for their daily survival. They continue to play an integral role in keeping our environment clean and increasing the longevity of dumpsites,” said Mr. Deo.
