Thailand is stepping up efforts to curb ocean plastic waste and conserve endangered marine life, through a comprehensive programme named after well-loved baby dugong Mariam, who died after consuming plastic.
The Mariam Project includes initiatives to increase the number of dugongs and other endangered species, ban single-use plastic bags, straws and cups as well as styrofoam in a few years, and build hospitals and recuperation centres for endangered species.
Mr Ukrit Sataphumin, head of the Marine and Coastal Resources Research and Development Institute shared that Mariam is now an icon for the dangers of ocean plastic waste. Mariam Project aims to accelerate the process of curbing plastic waste
Two orphaned calves were found ashore in the southern beach town of Krabi.
Eight-month-old Mariam was attacked by an adult dugong in the Andaman Sea earlier this month and died five days later from blood infection and pus in her stomach. Some plastic waste was also found in her intestines.
Five days after her death, three-month-old Jamil died from shock when undergoing surgery to remove seagrass clogging his stomach.
Dugongs are classified as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Thailand generates about two million tonnes of plastic waste a year, with over 50,000 tonnes of this waste ending up in the oceans, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
In June last year, a pilot whale died in southern Thailand after swallowing 80 plastic bags.
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Source: The Straits Times, 28 August 2019