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'Foreign’ plastic invades Great Nicobar Island
Why in news
- A survey in five beaches in Great Nicobar Island, India’s southernmost territory, recorded the presence of plastic of ‘nonIndian origin,’ .
More in news
- Findings appeared in the latest edition of Current Science.
(1) Countries contributed to the plastic litter on the island. Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam, India, Myanmar, China and Japan.
(2) %Litter Contribution : (40.5%) was of Malaysian origin, followed by Indonesia (23.9%) and Thailand (16.3%). Other countries contributed a minor portion,”
(3) Litter of Indian origin - 2.2%, and is continuously increasing rise on beaches and mangroves of the Andaman Islands.
(4) Proximity to island: contribution from Indonesia and Thailand was likely due to its proximity to the island; the plastic is likely to have made its way to the island because of water currents via the Malacca Strait, is a major shipping route.
(5) Reason for rise in litter:
(a) Lack of proper guidelines and inadequate staff to monitor these islands.
(b) Improper handling of the solid waste from fishing/mariculture activity and ship traffic resulted in the huge quantities of marine debris
- About The Great Nicobar Island of Andaman
(1) Area covered-1044 sq. km.
(2) Population as per 2011 census is only 8,069.
(3) Shompens one of the most primitive tribes of India lives here
(4) Protected areas: island includes the Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve (GNBR) comprising of the Galathea National Park and the Campbell Bay National Park.
(5) Ecosystems: tropical wet evergreen forests, mountain ranges and coastal plains.
(6) Fauna: giant robber crabs, crab eating macaques, the rare megapode & leatherback turtles.
(7) Biggest Threat:
(a) Plastic pollution is one of the severest threats to ocean ecosystems and its concentration has reached 5,80,000 pieces per sqkm.
(b) Plastic represents 83% of the marine litter found.
Sources
The Hindu