How marine plastic waste affects nations where tourism is a major industry
Source: https://phys.org/news/2023-05-marine-plastic-pollution-impacts-countries.html
Author: India Glyde
Pristine beaches full of plastic waste. Picturesque rivers clogged by rubbish and discarded objects. These are not the sights that you find in travel brochures.But for many countries around the world, which rely on tourism to support their gross domestic products (GDP), these are frequently becoming the sights that greet tourists.
Professor Alistair McIlgorm, from the Australian National Center for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS) at the University of Wollongong (UOW), said marine plastic pollution is becoming an increasingly urgent issue in the African coastal locations of Tanzania and Zanzibar, which rely on tourism to drive the local and national economies.
As the lead researcher and consultant on a recent World Bank PROBLUE study into the costs of environmental degradation from marine plastic pollution in Eastern Africa, Professor McIlgorm has seen the problem firsthand. He said, as with all plastic pollution, prevention is better than the cure. Professor McIlgorm conducted the research alongside Dr. Jian Xie, Senior Environmental Specialist at The World Bank. Titled "The Costs of Environmental Degradation from Plastic Pollution in Selected Coastal Areas in the United Republic of Tanzania", the report was published by the World Bank last month.
The World Bank study sought to measure the environmental costs of marine plastic pollution in two sites—Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Zanzibar Island in the Zanzibar Archipelago—by estimating the economic impacts on fisheries, aquaculture, tourism, health, and the marine ecosystem.