Coastal clean-up initiative

International Coastal Clean-up Day will begin on September 20th on Santa Maria, the island in the Azores that will host the flagship event and will see dozens of land and underwater clean-up activities taking place on that day in various locations, organized by various civil society organizations.

The main initiative, coordinated by the Santa Maria Elementary and Secondary School, will take place in Baía da Maia in Vila do Porto, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., meeting at the Maia Pool. Concurrently, on this day and on this island, other clean-up actions will take place throughout the morning and afternoon, organized by local organizations.

Coordinated by the Santa Maria Elementary and Secondary School, with the support of the Vila do Porto municipality and the Santa Maria Naval Club, and with the institutional support of the Blue Azores program, the Oceano Azul Foundation, the Regional Government of the Azores, through the Regional Secretariat for the Sea and Fisheries, and the European Commission Representation in Portugal, the action brings together citizens and organizations in a unique citizenship movement at the national level.

Numerous activities are also planned until September 28th, coordinated by various organizations and entities, on several islands of the Azores archipelago.

Until September 28th, you can register for clean-up actions and/or participate in those already available. To do so, you can view the initiatives on the Oceano Azul Foundation website and contact the citizen movement responsible for organizing the activity.

You can also register the results of your action using the forms provided by the Regional Directorate of Maritime Policies on the government's marine litter portal, www.lixomarinho.azores.gov.pt .

Collecting information from these actions is extremely important for the Regional Government of the Azores, as it contributes to the assessment of the state of Azorean marine waters under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and to reporting to international macro-policies in the area of marine litter.