(by Admiral Giuseppe De Giorgi) It is called “Plastic Busters Mpas” and is a project created to protect Mediterranean areas from plastic pollution, unfortunately particularly exposed to this type of contamination. The Mediterranean is in fact one of the areas most affected by plastic waste in the world, as recently documented in international scientific journals by the researchers involved in the project. Even within protected areas, the impacts on marine fauna, including endangered species, are not fully known, and prevention and mitigation measures are still insufficient. This is the first project on a Mediterranean scale, in which the countries of the European Union and some candidate countries join forces to tackle the problem of marine litter, with a coordinated approach. The idea came from Plastic Busters, an initiative of the University of Siena, shared with the Navy and its researchers of marine ecology and environmental ecotoxicology, coordinated by Professor Maria Cristina Fossi, who for years have been dedicated to scientific research, public awareness and institutional networking for protection of the Mediterranean from plastic waste. In 2016, with the consent of all member states, the UfM awarded Plustic Busters the “label”, the recognition that places it among the strategic projects for the development of the Mediterranean area.
“Plastic Busters Mpas” was financed with 5 million euros from the European fund Interreg Europe (2004-2020). It will last four years and will involve 15 countries including Italy, France, Spain, Slovenia, Croatia, Albania, Greece. It will be coordinated by Ispra with the scientific supervision of the University of Siena. The aim of the project will be to diagnose the impacts of macro and microplastics on biodiversity in marine protected areas, to define and test surveillance, prevention and mitigation measures for marine plastic waste pollution, to develop a common framework of actions, policies and legislation. With a further hope: to reach an overall and joint governance of the sector, through a participatory approach and a concrete commitment of the marine protected areas involved in the project, to implement it through specific memoranda of understanding, with the aim of extending the good practices identified to all marine protected areas of the Mediterranean. In the final part of the project, the aim will be to provide policy makers with recommendations and strategies for the management of plastic waste.