Transcript Land Fill - World Indigenous Network

Jyl Wheaton-Abraham
Chels Marshall
NOBODYZ TRASH
MARINE DEBRIS AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
CONNECTING PEOPLE & OCEANS
Pollution, Indigenous People and the Marine Environment
Somebodies
Choice
Somebody
DESIGN
MANUFACTURE
S
Somebody
MARKETING
TURES
Somebody
SELLING
Somebody
CONSUMIN
G
Recycle
DISCARD
Somebody
DESIGN
D
Somebody
PRODUCTION
Somebody
DEMAND
D
D
Somebody
USING
Land
Fill
NOBODYZ TRASH
The modern trend is for all nearly all consumer goods to contain and/or be contained by plastic.
Major drivers of plastic use include inexpensive production costs, prolonged shelf life for foods,
and mass production capability.
Disposable plastics are the main source of plastic pollution
• Our watery world is “drowning” in marine
debris
• This has received worldwide attention with
the discovery of the Great Pacific Garbage
Patch
– a floating “continent” of plastics (mostly)
– 1 760 000 square kilometres in size
(bigger than Qld = 1 730 648 km2)
– 100 million tonnes of debris
Source: http://questgarden.com/104/43/7/100603110329/t-index.htm
Marine Debris is a GLOBAL Problem
• However, debris is not just confined to the North
Pacific Gyre
• Widespread issue across the globe
• Massive impacts on:
– human health
– biology and ecology or marine organisms
– local, regional and worldwide economies
Debris Facts and Figures
• “any manufactured or processed solid waste
material (typically inert) that enters the marine
environment from any source whether on land or
at sea” (APEC, 2009)
• ~ 6.4 million tonnes of debris reach the ocean
every year (UNEP, 2005)
• ~ 8 million items are discarded into the sea every
day (UNEP 2005)
• Plastics are the most prevalent debris items (~6080% of total)
• ~ 80% of marine debris enters the ocean from
land-based sources
• ~ 20% from ships/marine sources
• Discarded Fishing Gear (DFG) is a major part of
ship-sourced debris
• Shipping
– propeller fouling, blocked cooling fittings etc.
• Fishing
– reduced catches
– sorting debris from catches (time costs)
• Tourism
– lost income due to aesthetic and health issues
– barrier to new investment
• Estimated cost of US $1.265 billion in 2008
Wildlife Impacts
• Entanglement
• Ingestion
• Smothering
• Loss of Habitat
• Changes or Loss in biodiversity
Photo: Ramon Dominquez Neri
• Contamination of water supplies
• Leaching of toxic chemicals from plastics
• General loss of wellbeing if environment is fouled
While scientists and industries call for further
research, plastic marine debris continues to
accumulate.
Reuse or
reject
plastic
Beach
clean-ups,
trash as art
Individual
Local bans
of plastic
products
Communities
Laws and
regulations
regarding
dumping
and
catchment
Creating
“greener”
plastics
Global
Plastic Pollution and Political Ecology
Power imbalances due to
factors such as wealth, age,
gender, beliefs, and race.
The politics of environmental
change.
Human/environmental
relations including how
power relations can
determine human use and
access to an environment.
Many indigenous
communities have customs
and beliefs, and often live in
conditions which increase
their exposure to plastic
marine debris in the world
ocean.
Marine Plastic
Debris
and Indigenous
Communities
Photo Source: Scott Dickerson
Unequal ability
to manage
health,
environmental,
and traditional
concerns
Exposure to
chemicals and
debris through
marine food
resources
Photo Source: Scott Dickerson
Exposure to
debris and
chemicals in
water or on
shore
Participation and Capacity-Building
“Difficulties arose in Alaska and Hawaii, when groups…did not
follow through due in some part to cultural issues…Future efforts
[will] require a significant endorsement of the local tribal
communities in Alaska, and special attention in Hawaii to cultural
concerns on the various islands,” (Ocean Conservancy, 2007).
Health, economic, and environmental concerns of indigenous
people may be prioritized differently than traditional research
models.
Concerns may have strong connections to spirituality and cultural
practice, which is not often considered nor studied.
Participatory Mapping
• Combines modern cartographic tools with community
participatory methods.
• Capture the local perspective of the place where we
live and the elements that are important within that
place.
• Expression of local spatial knowledge in a geographic
framework that is easy to understand and universally
recognized.
Rottnest Island
Rottnest Island
13.3
49.3
28.0
141.5
23.8
81.0
67.3
12.3
154.0
15.5
20.8
49.0
39.3
189.3
174.4
Items per 50m of beach
142.0
www.databasin.org
www.databasin.org/groups/d0a624e24d934ab99f189bc1fc6d1
46e
Data Basin is a free online data sharing and mapping application used by
communities, students and educators, natural resource practitioners and scientists
interested in environmental issues around the world.
7,675 public datasets
873 public maps
171 public groups
5,983 members
Barriers to Overcome
Lack of Understanding of the Problem
The Prevalence and Persistence of Plastic
Photo source: Surfrider
NobodyZ Trash Team and Contributors
Jyl M. Wheaton-Abraham- Marine
Anthropologist
M.A. Candidate, Applied
Anthropology
Oregon State University
Kootenai Tribe of Idaho
Chels Marshall- Marine Planner
GIPA
Baga Baga / Ngnambaa
Gumbaynggirr Tribe
Kai Henifin – GIS Analyst
Conservation Biology USA
Steve Smith – Marine Biologist
Southern Cross University
Australia
Tim Exley
Baga Surf Japan
Ecologist, Data Analyst
Laise Harris - GIS
Nth OLD Dry Tropics
Ngati Kahungunu (whale rider
decendants), Miyajima Hiroshima
and Ngapuhi.
Chris Edwards Aboriginal artist
/designer
Wirimbi Design
Baga Baga / Ngnambaa
Gumbaynggirr Tribe
Fabri Blacklock Aboriginal artist
/designer
Wirimbi Design
Ngarabal/Anaiwan people from Glen
Innes and Tingha and the Biripi
people from Dingo Creek in New
South Wales
Traditional Owner Magnetic Island
Melissa George
Liz Hawkin
Dolphin Research Australia
Riki Gunn
Ghost Nets Australia
Heidi Taylor
Tangaroha Blue
Photo: Francis R. Malasig
Every bit of plastic ever made still
exists.