DREFF Hosts Event to Present the Findings of the Fundación Vida Azul 2012 Coastal Clean-up Report

New York, October 18, 2012

On October 15, the  Dominican Environmental Film Festival (DREFF), Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE), partnered with Fundación Vida Azul to present the institute’s “2012 Coastal Clean-Up Report” at FUNGLODE Headquarters in Santo Domingo. The outcome document is a statistical assessment of the results of the national coastal clean-up project organized internationally by The Ocean Conservancy.

During the 2012 national coastal clean-up initiative, volunteers collected 196,988.84 pounds of trash along 147 kilometers of beach, rivers and streams.

Mr. José Ureña, President of Fundación Vida Azul, provided audience members with a breakdown of the type of waste collected – 37 percent bottles, 10 percent bottle caps, 8 percent plastic bags and 7 percent disposable plastic cups and utensils. These percentages in terms of items gathered translate into: 183 thousand plastic bottles, 52 thousand pieces of Styrofoam, 49 thousand plastic bottle caps, approximately 39 thousand plastic bags and 35 thousand pieces of disposable plastic cups and utensils.

The president of the environmental organization highlighted that the main objective of the project is to educate the public on how to better care for the environment.

Oscar Oviedo, Director of Fundación Vida Azul, went on to convey that the initiative teaches citizens to understand that trash is not part of the landscape, stating that, on the contrary, “it robs space.”

Mr. Oviedo and Ms. Catherine Florentino, Assistant Coordinator of Formative Activities at FUNGLODE, encouraged those present to promote the initiative, so as to ensure that the number of volunteers continues to grow.

The coastal clean-up initiative is realized every year in 47 countries on International Coastal Clean-up Day. At the global level, the project is organized by Ocean Conservancy, which possess over 26 years realizing coastal clean-up initiatives. The effort is also massively supported by other NGO leaders in the area of environmental management through the preservation of marine resources.

Since 2008, Fundación Vida Azul has coordinated the International Coastal Clean-Up (ICC) initiative in the Dominican Republic. The ICC operates based on voluntary participation in 47 countries. Thanks to the concern of hundreds of thousands of volunteers worldwide, each year millions of pounds of garbage gets collected from beaches around the world. In addition to collecting waste, volunteers also conduct an inventory of the types of trash collected in order to evaluate and monitor levels of contamination from year to year.

DREFF is proud to support Fundación Vida Azul and The Ocean Conservancy in this critically important cause.

About DREFF
DREFF aims to raise awareness and deepen understanding of environmental issues among Dominican audiences. At the same time, the Festival celebrates the beauty and diversity of the Dominican Republic’s natural heritage and offers insights into attitudes and actions that will contribute to its appreciation, conservation and sustainable use.

By screening a diverse selection of high quality films that deal with pressing issues, and by organizing discussion panels with environmental experts, filmmakers and other stakeholders, the Festival seeks to promote dialogue and inspire Dominican audiences to adopt practices that will ensure for the country’s environmental sustainability and health.

By bringing together youth, scholars, experts, activists, filmmakers, representatives of the public and private sector, non-governmental enthusiasts, as well as wide audiences from all walks of life, the Festival promotes programs and projects that contribute to environmental protection, conservation and sustainability.

Related links:
www.dreff.org
http://vidaazul.org/
http://www.oceanconservancy.org/