AMDI Network

AMDI Network

Australian Marine Debris Initiative Information Page

The Australian Marine Debris Initiative is a network of communities, schools, industries, government agencies and individuals focused on reducing the amount of marine debris washing into our oceans.

On every beach around Australia you will find some form of marine debris, from litter left by visitors to international debris, to ghost nets or rubbish washed from far inland through stormwater drains.

The statistics are horrifying with the United Nationals' Regional Seas Program estimating more than 18,000 pieces of plastic in each square kilometre of ocean; and other research estimating more than 8 million tonnes of debris entering the world's oceans each year. The majority of this marine debris is plastic, which due to its chemical makeup is a long lasting material. Plastics, once released into the environment, never biodegrade, instead photodegrading breaking into smaller and smaller pieces of the original item, forever remaining in the environment.

The Australian Marine Debris Initiative is a way that everyone can become involved in both the removal of marine debris and finding solutions to stop the flow of rubbish into our oceans.

The Australian Marine Debris Initiative includes:

  • Marine debris and beach clean up events
  • On-going marine debris monitoring programs
  • Presentations on the marine debris issue
  • Workshops on mitigation strategies on marine debris
  • The Australian Marine Debris Database
  • Educational resources and clean up materials
  • CyberTracker training and data collection methods

If you are interested in joining the Australian Marine Debris Initiative or finding out more send us an email to info@tangaroablue.org

NETWORK NEWS

 

Plastics Out of the Ocean with ORCV

Carmen Torraca

Plastics Out of the Ocean with ORCV

Last month the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria (ORCV) hosted the 2019 Melbourne to Apollo Bay yacht race, in conjunction with a new initiative for the health of our oceans.

Alvaro Maz, a member of the Faster Forward crew led a pilot campaign called Plastics out of the Ocean, raising awareness of and sharing ideas about ocean conservation amongst the sailing community. “As someone who cares about the health of our planet, I’ve always been interested in ways that I can have an impact that scales; something that can change behaviour and the value we put on our natural environment, not just create more choices to greenwash our everyday living”, writes Maz.

In just 4 weeks the initiative was able to garner the support of the ORCV and race Steering Committee and spread the word to all Apollo Bay race competitors. Encouraging the reduction of plastics on board and sharing sustainable ways of running boats, teams also fundraised a total $2,525 for the campaign, which they have chosen to donate to the Tangaroa Blue Foundation.

Special thanks go to Algy Rose, Blue Water Tracks, Shimmer and Faster Forward crews for your support.

But it doesn’t end there! With a successful trial under their belt, the team from ORCV plan to extend their crowd-funding campaign to the biggest event in the sailing calendar, the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

Thank you ORCV for your efforts and generosity, and we look forward to the next chapter of Plastics Out of the Ocean!

To read the full story, visit: https://orcv.org.au/apollo-bay-blog/5006-save-the-ocean-protect-your-passion-make-an-impact

Written by Alexis Farr

Detailing Data Entries

Carmen Torraca

The AMDI Database is an extensive platform which, as of May 2019, contains over 13.5 million recorded items. At the clean-up level, each of these debris items are sorted and counted, then uploaded onto the Database in their item groups. For example, the “Straws, confection sticks, cups, plates & cutlery items” group. These items are grouped together as they are all food-related, but as this is a broad category, there’s great potential for the user to add more detail.

Read more “Detailing Data Entries”

Page 3 of 21