Background Guide...2019 .Ì'i5B¨âW·K> ë0V5B8Ð( Beijing International Model United Nations 2019 Background Guide United Nations Environment Programme Topic A: Reducing Plastic

2019北京国际模拟联合国大会Beijing International Model United Nations 2019

Background GuideUnited Nations Environment Programme

Topic A: Reducing Plastic Pollution in the Oceans and its Knock-on Effects

Topic B: Restoration and Conservation of Mangrove Ecosystems

Beijing International Model United Nations 20192019 北京国际模拟联合国大会

UNEP • Background Guide 2

ContentWelcome Letter ��4Introduction to the Committee ��5General Idea of the Topic ��6TOPIC A Reducing Plastic Pollution in the Oceans and its Knock-on Effects � 7Current Situation ��7Past Actions ��9

Universal Progress �� 9Regional Attempts �� 9Other Efforts ��10

Problems to be Solved ��11Ingestion and Entanglement of Marine Animals ��11Accumulation of Plastics and Transport of Toxic Substance ��11Transport of Alien Species ��12Threats to Endangered Species and Benthic Life ��13Inadequate Management of Plastic Production and Pollution ��14Economic Impacts ��14

Possible Solutions ��16Cleanup and Recovery ��16Reduction of Existing Plastic Wastes and Prevention of Further Pollution 17Alternatives: Biodegradable and Compostable Plastics ��18

TOPIC B Restoration and Conservation of Mangrove Ecosystems ��20Current Situation ��20

General Overview of the Current Situation ��20Past Actions ��22Extended Issues ��24

Problems to be Solved ��25Anthropogenic Pressures ��25Climate Change ��26

Possible Solutions ��28Preservation of the Remaining Mangrove Habitat ��28Restoration and Enhancement of Mangrove Habitat ��28Conducting Additional Research ��29Increasing Public Awareness ��29

Bloc Positions ��31China ��31Japan ��31


UNEP • Background Guide3

Southeast Asia ��32Africa ��33Europe ��33Latin America and the Caribbean ��34North America ��35West Asia ��35

Questions to Consider ��36Reference ��37



Welcome LetterDear Delegates,

Welcome to the United Nations Environment Programme of BIMUN 2019� The Directors of the UN Environment would like to express our sincerest welcome to all the delegates for your participation�

Our planet is facing severe threats resulted from human activities� The plastic debris in the ocean is indeed a detrimental form of pollution, with demonstrable social, economic and environmental impacts� The UN Environment has concluded that marine plastic pollution includes materials like timbers, glasses, metals, and plastics from many different sources� With mangroves being destructed alarmingly, we are de facto deteriorating the earth environment, where carbon emission increases in large amount while various species are threatened with extinction� More importantly, human livelihoods will be severely disrupted in that people are subject to greater economic loss from ever-frequent ocean-borne storms and hurricanes as well as unsustainable fishery development.

This year, our committee will adopt the Beijing Rules of Procedures (Paper-oriented), new to the majority of delegates� However, don’t worry about being “new”, because all the delegates are green hands of the RoP� Standing on the starting line, delegates who make more efforts to learn it will quickly make use of it to promote discussion in the conference�

The Background Guide, aiming at offering guidance, only provides a limited amount of information about the topic� As regards, your own research about the country’s status quo and stands, as well as the current situation and possible solutions are necessary and important�

We are looking forward to your performance!

Best Regards,

Directors of the United Nations Environment Programme

Beijing International Model United Nations 2019



Introduction to the CommitteeGiven the unprecedented environmental challenges, the United Nations Environment Programme (used to be abbreviated as UNEP, now the UN Environment) works with various sectors in society to protect the planet� The UN Environment is taking the lead to set the global environment agenda, promote the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system, and serve as an authoritative advocate for the global environment�

To care for the environment, the mission of the committee is to provide leadership and encourage partnership� The UN Environment has set the environmental, social and economic sustainability framework to ensure standardized and structured sustainability measures across all of its work and improve business practices of the committee� The Framework serves five broad purposes, which set safeguard standards for the operations and is closely related to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN 2030 Agenda, enabling the UN Environment to respond more promptly and effectively to emerging environmental, social and economic issues as an attractive and trusted implementing or executing partner (UN Environment, 2019)�

Except for the five broad purposes, the UN Environment also has nine Safeguard Standards, which include biodiversity conservation, pollution prevent, gender equality, protection of tangible cultural heritage, etc�, making the committee not only a “do no harm committee”, but also a comprehensive “do good” committee (UN Environment, 2019)�

The works of the UN Environment includes assessing global, regional and national environmental conditions and trends; developing international and national environmental instruments; and strengthening institutions for the wise management of the environment (UN Environment, 2019)�



General Idea of the TopicWith the rapid growth in demand and consumption of plastics, large amounts of plastic debris enter the ocean every year from both land- and sea-based activities, such as fisheries and tourism, and poor waste management. This poses a huge threat to plants and animals, including human beings as well. In addition, the fishery and tourism industries in many coastal and island countries are economically affected by the presence of plastic debris� Growing on the land-ocean boundary zone, mangrove forests are protecting the coast under harsh conditions with their complex biological structure� Unfortunately, mangroves in intertidal zones are disappearing from our planet at an appalling rate, thus exerting an enormous impact on the environment and human livelihoods� The marine plastic pollution and the destruction of mangrove ecosystems pose a series of formidable challenges for the ecological environment and international cooperative governance� Reducing plastic pollution in the oceans and its knock-on effects, and protecting mangrove ecosystems ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns, while protecting and promoting the sustainable use of territorial and marine ecosystem and resource� In turn, we can bring health and well-being to all�



TOPIC A Reducing Plastic Pollution in the Oceans and its Knock-on Effects

Current Situation

General overview of the current situation

Plastic is a major component of marine debris, accounting for 60% to 80% of marine debris� In some regions, this number can be up to 95% (Moore, 2008)� The UN Environment has concluded that marine plastic pollution includes materials like timber, glass, metal, and plastic from many different sources (UN Environment, 2014b)� Maine debris is transported by ocean currents and tends to accumulate in some subtropical convergence zones or gyres� These gyres normally occur in the North and South Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific, and the Indian Ocean (UN Environment, 2014a). It is estimated that in 2010, around 8 million tons of plastic wastes eventually entered into the ocean (Jambeck, et al�, 2015)�

Plastics in the oceans can be photo-degraded and fragmented under solar radiation, forming fragments smaller than 1 centimeter or even smaller which leads to the pollution of microplastics (less than five millimeters long) (Thompson and Russell, 2004)� The source of microplastics is diversified and can be generally classified into the terrestrial source and marine source�

Terrestrial microplastic pollutions are mostly generated by detergents, skin care products, and industrial raw materials (Fendall and Sewell, 2009)� These microplastic wastes end up entering into the oceans together with land-based wastes� In some undeveloped regions with the lack of sewage treatments, it is hard for these countries to supervise and deal with the plastic fragments properly because of their lack of infrastructure and technology� These fragments flowed into the rivers with sanitary sewage and then into the Oceans�

Marine microplastic pollutions mainly come from domestic garbage generated in the operation of ships and massive use of Styrofoam floating devices, which is used for fishing. Research revealed that fishing and merchant boats dumped up to 3 billion pounds of plastic fishing gears to the ocean each year and discarded more than 300 million pounds of plastic packaging materials (Wang and Liang, 2009)� Furthermore, due to the rapid development of the aquatic industry, buoy devices have been widely used in recent years� However, the aging of buoy devices or the damage would change these plastic products into plastic pollutions (Hinojosa and Thiel, 2009)�

Marine plastic debris does great harm to marine life, human beings and the development of economy� Initially, marine plastic debris seriously threatens the life of marine organism



including marine mammals, turtles and coral reef� Marine mammals and turtles are subjected to entanglement and ingestion caused by common plastic trash (such as synthetic fiber ropes, fishing nets and other discarded fishing gears). These animals suffer from physical clogging of the digestive system after ingesting plastic wastes mistakenly, leading to reduced nutrient absorption or even the lethal damage of the digestive system� Except for marine animals, the coral reef is also hard to get rid of the harm (UN Environment, 2014a)� Plastic waste provides an ideal living environment for colonized microorganisms, which results in diseases after contacting the coral reefs and then result in a large-scale death� More seriously, marine plastic debris even affects human beings under the influence of the food chain� It is likely for marine organisms, such as zooplankter, benthos and fishes, to take microplastics easily. Then, the plastics are stored in the digestive tract, certain tissues and cells and enters into human bodies through the food chain (Derraik, 2002)� Marine plastic waste also harms the development of the economy� In Valuing Plastic and UNEP Year Book 2014 issued by the UN Environment at the first UN Environment Conference in June 2014, it pointed out that economic losses caused by plastic waste to the marine system are estimated to be around 13 billion dollars annually (2014b)�

Marine plastic pollution (Ocean Cleanup, 2019)



Past Actions

Universal Progress

To eliminate marine plastic pollution, several programs have been carried out globally in recent years� These programs focus not only on governments, but more on the general public, private sectors and the interconnectedness and coordination between them� For instance, the UN environment launched the Cleanseas Programme in 2017, aiming to engage individuals, civic organizations and governments in fighting against marine plastic pollution� At the present stage, the program pays more attention to addressing the source of marine waste by targeting the production and consumption of non-recoverable and single-use plastic, which requires citizens to be aware and play an active role in their daily life (Cleanseas, 2019)� In addition, the plastic industry also proposed an international initiative called the Operation Clean Sweep (OCS)� The OCS requires companies that have signed up for this initiative to make a commitment and comply with the regulations strictly to prevent plastic pellet leak� The initiative concentrates pollution caused in loading and transporting process, targeting to guarantee plastic pellet, powder and flakes that go through the manufacturing facilities are dealt with carefully and don’t enter into rivers or seas (British Plastic Federation, 2019)�

With the awareness of marine environmental protection, many individuals have set up and taken part in the protection activity� One of the most influential activities established by individuals is called the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC), which was launched more than 30 years ago by two citizens of the United States� It developed quickly in the past 30 years and became the Ocean Conservancy’s first Cleanup action� The ICC gathered the power of individuals successfully to fight against the ocean waste by recruiting volunteers throughout the country and taking actions on a planned day annually� Apart from picking up garbage, volunteers are also required to record each item and collect them into a database to identify ways to eliminate ocean trash in the future� Until now, volunteers from more than 100 countries take part in this activity each year to clean their nearby coastline� Due to their efforts, a global network has already been established (Ocean Conservancy, 2019)�

Regional Attempts

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP)

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest of the five offshore plastic accumulation zones in the world’s oceans, located halfway between Hawaii and California� It is caused by the currents of the Northern Pacific Gyres� In a research conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), it is demonstrated that the GPGP is



estimated to contain 20 times the density of floating debris in contrast to the global average (Fletcher and Martin,2009)�

The GPGP has attracted the attention of scientists and non-government organizations� Many programs and related initiatives have been set forth on this issue, among which Project Kaisei and Ocean Cleanup are two typical ones� The purpose of project Kaisei is to study the extent and nature of these floating wastes and to collect, detoxify and recycle these wastes (Project Kaisei, 2019)� Compared with other projects which also target to protect the Oceans, Project Kaisei did a good job analyzing the characteristics of waste and recycling� Ocean Cleanup works on the solutions to remove these plastics from the GPGP and these works are expected to remove half of the GPGP in only 5 years by taking advantage of ocean currents� (Ocean Cleanup, 2019)

Marine Plastics and Coastal Communities – MARPLASTICCs

With the help of Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the International Union for Conservative of Nature (IUCN) launched an initiative on marine plastics and coastal communities (MARPLASTICCs) in the Indian Ocean and Asia Pacific regions in 2017� The aim of this initiative is to propel governments and regions to enact and promote legislation on plastic pollution and take effective actions (International Union for Conservative of Nature, 2019)� To implement its goal, IUCN is pouring its efforts to assist governments, communities and industries in five countries -- South Africa, Mozambique, Kenya, Thailand and Viet Nam to make a shift towards a more circular economy� MARPLASTICCs approach is based on four parts, including knowledge (publish reports, measurement tools, et al�), policy (policy makers engagement), business (market solution and technological innovation incentives) and capacity building (coordination between experts, NGOs, governments and et al�) (MARPLASTICCs, 2019)�

Other Efforts

In the face of marine plastic pollution, many countries have also taken corresponding measures in recycling, launching domestic cleanup activities, etc� In California, the most successful recycling program is called the Beverage Container Recycling Program� This program uses incentives (5 cents for containers less than 24 ounces, 10 cents for containers 24 ounces or larger) to propel citizens to return used beverage containers to the collection facilities� (California Ocean Science Trust, 2011) Also, in Canada, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change launched Community Cleanup, calling Canadian people to fight against marine plastic pollution� In this initiative, citizens are encouraged to organize their own cleanup activities with local Members of Parliament� Furthermore, four major events, supported by the Canadian government, will take place in four cities in Canada on International Coastal Cleanup Day (Government of Canada, 2019)�



Problems to be Solved

Ingestion and Entanglement of Marine Animals

The plastics in the ocean ingested by wildlife may trigger serious health problems� Many animals have mistaken plastics for food due to its size and color, and this has made them suffer from malnutrition� For example, study shows that sea turtles which were accidentally caught by fishing net have almost 74% of their diets that were full of ocean plastics (Ocean Cleanup, 2019)� Another study also demonstrates that each Shearwater chicks being studied contained plastic debris with a mean of 148�1mg, the majority of which are light-colored plastics that looks similar to marine life that used to be their food because there is 180 times more plastic than food at the ocean surface (Auman et al�, 2015)� Ingesting plastic may give these animals a false sense of satiation, leading them to eat less food that provides necessary nutrients for them, which results in reduced weight, energy, and swimming speed; therefore, making these animals more vulnerable to predators (UN Environment, 2018a)� These ingested substances are hard for animals to digest, absorb, discharge and decompose by the intestine, thus cause severe health damages, even mortality or sub-lethal effects, to their bodies and shorten their life expectancy eventually�

Apart from ingestion, plastics also affect some marine animals’ lives through entanglement in packaging bands, synthetic ropes, and lines, or drift nets� The death of marine life caused by the discarded nets, also known as “ghost nets”, have affected the marine ecosystem to a large extent (UN Environment, 2011). The fishing nets are majorly responsible for the suffering because they are dangerous for animals who swim or collide into them and cannot extract themselves from the net� There are also sea turtles, seals and even little whales being trapped by soft or hard plastic debris which are both very difficult to get rid of. What’s worse, some of the animals are drowned, pierced and even suffocated to death by those plastics� According to the Year Book of UNEP in 2011, more than 260 species have been entangled in or have ingested marine debris (UN Environment, 2011)�

Accumulation of Plastics and Transport of Toxic Substance

Plastic pollution has impacted on the marine environment necessary for wildlife to live� With technological development, all kinds of plastic materials are used in industries and daily life� However, the concern about the threat posed to marine life by microplastics is growing� It has been regarded as a pathway for the transport of harmful chemicals through the food web, which will be analyzed later when discussing marine animals’ health problems (UN Environment, 2014c)� Microplastics are also reported by the UN Environment to have been accelerating the transport of harmful microbes, like disease pathogens and harmful algal species (UN Environment, 2014c)�



The degradation of plastics will release toxic chemicals which will go into every sea life’s body through the food chain� Given the fact that plastics not only accumulate contaminants and other organic pollutants because of its permeable lipophilic nature, but also release toxic chemicals in marine environment after sun exposure, wave scour, and temperature changes, toxic chemicals by the plastic degradation easily affect animals which consume the debris and ingest the chemicals attached to plastic (Stevenson, 2011)� The additives leached out by plastic particles, reported by the UN Environment, such as BPA (abbreviation for phthalates and Bisphenol A), can disrupt the hormone system of vertebrates and invertebrates alike due to their hormonal effects (UN Environment, 2018b)� Other nano-sized particles may cause cardiovascular diseases and inflammation, even enter the blood-brain barrier or the placenta within which they can change the gene expression and trigger biochemical reactions (UN Environment, 2018b)� Moreover, through the process of bioaccumulation, chemicals in plastics that were eaten by marine animals, and as the feeder becomes prey, the substances will pass to the predator, which in the end will flow into humans� When plastic particles break down, they gain new physical and chemical properties, increasing the risk that they will have a toxic effect on organisms (Stevenson, 2011)� Therefore, with the larger number of potentially affected species and ecological functions, it is the more likely that toxic effects will occur�

Transport of Alien Species

The newest concern for scientists is the transport of alien species by floating plastic particles which may break the balance of the ecosystem of a sea area� In the past few decades, with a large amount of plastic debris entering into the Oceans, chances for the spread of alien species have also increased� Although invasive species have traditionally spread through the human introduction, transportation via ships, or naturally floating debris, it is believed that plastics will increase the opportunities for organisms to cross the ocean and invade other sea areas and continents� For example, a study has shown that a type of oyster called Lopha cristagalli, which is originated from Indo-Pacific, were found in New Zealand with synthetic rope; Diadumene lineata, a sea anemone, transported from Japan to Northwest Hawaiian Islands by trawl netting (Stevenson, 2011)� Plastic marine debris as a possible transportation device for invasive species adds additional concerns for aquatic natural resources managers� Once they succeed, it is extremely difficult to control their spread for the first “intruders” because they don’t face a threat from a natural enemy in the new environment� Therefore, the intrusion of alien species is very likely to cause economic and environmental damage in the ecosystem�



Examples of marine invaders using plastic as a raft (Gregory, 2009)

Threats to Endangered Species and Benthic Life

Because of the prevailing plastics in the ocean, more and more endangered species are on the edge of extinction� According to the Ocean Cleanup Programme established by Boyan Slat, plastics have influenced so widely that 17% of the species affected are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species (Ocean Cleanup, 2019)� The biodiversity loss is mostly due to the species extinction, especially for those endangered ones� Ingestion, entanglement, lethal damage and degraded marine environment, these events are further weakening the species, which will result in more die-offs and increase the probability of extinction of time� Hence, marine plastic pollution has made the already small quantity of endangered species even harder to maintain�

Plastic pollution has impacted the marine environment necessary for wildlife to live, including chemical harm of the decomposition of plastics, decreased illumination and changed biogeochemical cycle by influencing the biochemical process on the surface of the submarine deposit, the plastic pollution has changed the biogeochemical cycle� Because the plastic on the seafloor will take much longer time than plastic on beaches or in surface waters to fragment, it is incredibly persistent in the deep ocean� Several studies have noted the changes in community composition due to the covering of sunken marine debris (Stevenson, 2011)� The deposited plastics and microplastics prevent the spread and exchange of oxygen and water which happens on the surface of the deposited sediment� The interruption of the biochemical process on the submarine deposition has primarily influenced the necessary interexchange of material in the ocean, and thus impose a threat on the living of marine wildlife�



Inadequate Management of Plastic Production and Pollution

Marine plastic pollution reveals a chronic malady in human society – poor management of natural resources and production� The root of the problem is the improper and loose management standard of plastic products� Therefore, untrammeled use of plastics in production has caused severe environmental pollution after customers’ single use� Furthermore, in the majority of developing countries, few fiscal stimulus packages have been adopted to encourage recycling plastics products, not to mention regulations or laws that forbid discharging plastic debris into rivers or oceans�

With the flowing of plastic debris in the ocean, who should be responsible for it has become the core issue� Due to the high costs of cleaning up plastic pollution, many countries finger point and blame one another. For instance, there have been remarks in Japan that the government should collect marine waste disposal fees from Korea, but the Korean government refused to do so unless China pays Korean the garbage disposal fees since according to the Korean Government, the majority of marine garbage was drifted from China ( 大慧小惠，2012). As a result, no country is willing to deal with marine plastic pollution�

Economic Impacts

In addition to biological and ecological effects on marine wildlife, plastic marine debris also causes substantial economic impacts to coastal communities� The total damage caused by the plastic to marine ecosystems published by the United Nations is up to 13 billion USD, which includes the financial loss of fisheries and the cost of beach cleanup (Ocean Cleanup, 2019)�

Huge Expenditure on Cleaning Plastics

The costs of prevention of marine debris by methods such as litter cleanup and landfilling must not be discounted� To discharge plastics, projects like street sweeping, and other litter-related cleanups, prevention or education programs have been established� According to the Division of Maintenance in the California Department of Transportation of the USA, approximately US$41 million a year was spent on litter removal (CaDot, 2011)� With more plastic debris pouring into the ocean, the cost is surging� Besides, the disposal of plastic pollutants into the environment also incurs substantial costs� Millions of dollars have been taken to install trash capture device, landfills and other equipment. However, further research is needed to determine the complete economic impacts of cleanup, prevention, infrastructure, education and other costs to the state in the effort to reduce plastic marine debris, all of which are also the costs due to plastic�



Losses of the Fishing Industry

Derelict fishing gear can have significant economic effects when commercially import species are being caught� In the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, an estimated US$ 250 million in lobster is lost each year from lobster being trapped and dying in derelict fishing gear sitting on the ocean floor (UN Environment, 2009)� In the United Kingdom, 92% of fishermen report having issues with catching marine debris in their nets instead of their intended catch, and it is estimated that this costs the local fishing industry as much as US$ 17 million per year (Hall, 2009)�

The Impact on the Tourism

The emergence of a large amount of plastic waste puts tourism under threat� For instance, in Bali, parts of its famous beautiful scene of the island ends up with garbage strewn beaches and plastics floating on the sea� A British diver posted a video shot underwater in Bali, in which he was surrounded by all kinds of plastic trash� For an island whose economy rely heavily on tourism, marine plastic pollution severely hit both of its tourism and economy�

Cleaning up plastic marine debris from watersheds, coastlines, and the nearshore seafloor is critical to the prevention of flooding, navigational hazards, and public safety issues (as, for example, with medical waste), all of which can cause a downturn in tourism and result in lost revenues� According to the World Health Organization (2000), a clean beach is one of the most important attractions for visitors� Although the loss of tourism revenue due to marine debris has never been assessed by governments, the National Ocean Economics Program of the United States of America calculated the value of California’s ocean-dependent economy to be US$ 46 billions (NOEP, 2005)� Therefore, the reduction in the quality of ocean and beach could have substantial results on countries�



Possible Solutions

Cleanup and Recovery

a) Organized Cleanup Efforts

Cleanup operations are a necessary step to extract existing plastic in the ocean� If well-organized, such operations can cover a wide range of targeted area within a short time� One significant action taken so far is the Ocean Cleanup, a non-government engineering environmental organization based in Netherlands that targets the gathering of marine debris in ocean gyres, such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Due to the rotational movements of the currents, waste materials are captured and trapped in the center of the currents, thus creating massive garbage patches in the ocean� The Ocean Cleanup delves into the technology that in turn utilizes the movement of the water to its advantage� Its approach involves placing barriers in ocean gyres to scoop up marine debris and improves the efficiency as the barrier is pushed by the current� However, doubts about its feasibility and efficiency have never been stopped� Such cleanup operation is costly and fails to capture plastics of smaller size which in fact is the majority of the debris�

b) Energy Recovery

Energy recovery occurs when the energy that is released from a resource recovery process (i.e. pyrolysis/gasification) is used for another purpose to generate steam, fuel or electricity. (Editors, 2009) In the case of plastics, efficient waste-to-energy approaches are needed� Incineration of plastics is known to produce toxic chemicals which, once released, are detrimental to human beings’ health as well as the environment� Yet with proper infrastructure and advanced technologies, the harm brought by burning plastics can be controlled while creating energy� With further experimentation, it is highly possible that the energy from the combustion of plastics will be captured and utilized in various ways, offering a new front in dealing with plastic waste� For example, in Japan, the majority of garbage, including plastic, is incinerated by small-scale incineration plants( 服部雄一郎 ( 日 ), 2013)� Although the total volume of burned garbage in Japan is huge, they are handled by a large number of incineration plants� Because of their relatively small size, the pollution generated can be controlled by strict regulations� The government also provides subsidies for these plants and rewards the most advanced ones with higher sums� However, the smallness of plants leads to low capacity to recover energy� Most of them cannot generate electricity and those that can have low generating efficiency. Such dilemma is universal and needs to be addressed�



Reduction of Existing Plastic Wastes and Prevention of Further Pollution

a) Structural controls

When it comes to collecting scattered plastic pieces in the water, the construction of physical barriers may be a possible solution, especially in cities along the coastline� Debris capture devices can be placed across storm drains, urban catch basins, and pumping stations� (Stevenson, 2011) Maintenance measures are required to avoid blockages and flooding� Currently, the most distinct limitation concerning these physical barriers is the size of the plastic waste they are able to keep� Since the mesh size of grates must be large enough so as to avoid blockages and flooding, most micro-plastics (<5 mm diameter) go loosely through�

b) Recycling

Increasing recycling rate can be achieved through both economic incentives and mandatory laws and regulations targeting manufacturers� The government may offer subsidies or tax credits to manufacturers who achieve the desirable recycling rate� Manufacturers may also voluntarily do so for the benefit of a good public image� In Addition, mandatory laws and regulations impose specific restrictions on aspects such as the volume of postconsumer materials used in the manufacturing process� However, these may draw resistance from manufacturers as it will increase the cost and lower the quality of their plastic products� This explains why the current recycling rate of plastics is still lower than expected and better stronger incentives are needed to surpass the economic factor�

Another important aspect of recycling comes down to every household� Public education about the importance of recycling is needed� Necessary facilities should also be built in community, such as classification dustbins, regular pick-up services, etc.

c) Smart Design and Extended Producer Responsibility

Over-packaging is one prominent factor that leads to massive usage of plastic packaging� Companies need to be encouraged to reduce the amount of disposable plastic and introduce smart design that is eco-friendly�

A concept called Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) proposed by the California’s Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) may shed some light on this issue� The concept is defined as “the extension of the responsibility of producers, and all entities involved in the product chain, to reduce the cradle-to-cradle impacts of a product and its packaging; the primary responsibility lies with the producer, or brand owner, who makes design and marketing decisions�” (Stevenson, 2011, 39) Under this term, California introduced many programs, ranging from those that involve smart design



of packaging, those that involve mandatory or voluntary take-back of products and those that allow for government subsidies or tax credits to companies who use environmentally preferable materials� Such extension of responsibility indicates joint efforts of the government, the manufacturers and the brand owner and has the potential to answer for future attempts in this area� Still, regardless of national wealth, the problem of over-packaging is universal and demands further policy incentives�

d) Initiatives and Legislation

Given that marine debris can be borne by the sea to some certain afflicted areas regardless of national borders, and that the most effective long-term solution will require changes in practices and behavior, improved coordination across jurisdictional boundaries and between sectors (industry, science, business, municipal, private, environmental, etc�) (Stevenson, 2011) is necessary when devising initiatives and legislation, whether regional or international� On a reginal level, past disputes and demands for ‘cleanup fees’ between Japan, South Korea and China would not happen again if countries in one area can jointly deal with marine debris and specify their share of responsibility under proper regional maritime conventions� This can also facilitate exchange of past experiences and expertise, as well as expanding the scope and improving the efficiency of cleanup actions� Internationally, the existing UN Environment’s Regional Seas Program also aims to enable neighboring countries to cooperate for the benefit of the waters they share. It incorporates regional programs, such as the Action Plan for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Northwest Pacific Region (NOWPAP), whose members include China, Russia, Japan and South Korea� Its members have jointly established database and held seminars for exchange of information and carried out coastal cleanup operations, as well as negotiating for future possible solutions to shared problems�

e) Education

Education in practice can be divided in two aspects in accordance with its intended targets� For younger generations, schools can give lectures on related topics such as recycling or other ways to reduce plastic usage, as well as cooperating with environmental groups to offer opportunities for students to get involved in actual processes� For adults, governments can initiate massive educational projects educating and also informing people of the current situation and ongoing efforts�

Alternatives: Biodegradable and Compostable Plastics

Currently, biodegradable plastics can refer to both bioplastics coming from renewable raw materials, and plastics made from petrochemicals containing biodegradable additives� However, the petroleum-based plastics are not fully biodegradable� In time, they will only become smaller, petroleum-based, plastic-polymer pieces and residues� Ideally, the plastic of the future should be truly biodegradable, that is, degrade more quickly and



leave hardly any toxic residues, while still performing the same service as today� Yet replacing petroleum-based plastics with bio-plastics is not only unattainable, but the bio-plastics itself still brings many concerns and leaves much to be desired� Firstly, the costs of bioplastics are five to ten times greater than petroleum-based plastics. Secondly, biodegradable plastics cannot produce the same quality as petroleum-based plastics for some products� Companies can be dissuaded from using them� Besides, its degradation has to meet necessary conditions in terms of temperature, bacteria, etc� which the ocean environment cannot guarantee� This explains partly why although biodegradable plastic is the material of the future and has huge potential market, now it still occupies a small share of the total plastic usage� There are also other factors involved� For example, in China, which is the only country that is capable of producing all existing kinds of bio-plastics, the application field is small, and the production is difficult. Starter-up manufacturers with a small size and lacking government support cannot sustain themselves due to shortage of fund� The profit cycle of this business is unpredictably long� As a rising new industry, bio-plastic products also need product standards and assessing systems� These barriers all prevent bio-plastics from entering and flourishing in the market�

Further research and breakthrough in this area may truly shed hopeful light on fundamentally addressing the marine plastic debris by using the environmentally friendly substitutes�



TOPIC B Restoration and Conservation of Mangrove Ecosystems

Current Situation

General Overview of the Current Situation

Mangroves refer to shrubs or small trees that are tolerant of salt and grow in coastal saline or brackish water, or tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species (the UN Envrionment, 2014c). They have a complex salt filtration system and complex root system as well as an unconventional way to spread seeds, all of which help to adapt to the harsh coastal conditions� Mangrove ecosystems consist of various plants with the mangrove plant families. It can be identified in most coastal areas across the globe.

World distribution of mangrove forests (Giri 2008)



The top 20 mangrove habitat nations in 2014 (Hamilton and Casey 2016)

A well-functioning mangrove ecosystem has numerous benefits for nature as well as human beings� Primarily, it provides about 75 per cent of all tropical commercial fish species and associated ecosystems (UN Environment, 2014c) with a feeding and breeding ground� Second, its root system, which is the precondition for them to stay upright in the soft mud besides the sea, acts as a buffer against the erosive power of the sea waves� Third, it efficiently reduces the risk of flooding by absorbing the floodwater� Fourth, the by-products humans can produce from it is numerous, including timber and non-timber ones such as medical materials� It also serves to support coastal industries such as fisheries. Fifth, as an important source of blue carbon, its potential capacity to curb carbon emissions is huge although not quite publicized globally� Mangroves and the soils they grow in could sequester about 22�8 million metric tonnes of carbon each year� This function of mangrove ecosystems is gradually moving into the public spotlight under the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions for the survival of human beings�

However, mangrove ecosystems in different areas of the world are in persistent danger to varying degrees� Their rate of destruction is 3 to 5 times greater than the average rate of forest loss� Over a quarter of the world’s original mangrove cover has already disappeared (UN Environment 2017). Overall several factors combine to pose threats towards the mangrove ecosystems but human activity, specifically overexploitation of resources, is the leading cause� People cut down the trees to make room for agriculture or urbanization, as well as for better development of local industries including aquaculture, mining and lumbering� Pollution caused by marine debris or chemical spill leads to the degradation of mangrove forests� The global climate change and its side effects also threaten to alter the hydrological environment that mangroves rely on�



Fortunately, countries are realizing the vital role mangrove ecosystem plays and have been making progress along with the help of organisations such as United Nations Development Program and United Nations Environment Program� In 2015, Sri Lanka launched a scheme targeting various aspects of preserving and restoring mangroves in the country, becoming the first nation in the world to implement comprehensive protection� Projects in other regions have also achieved varying degrees of success�

Past Actions

a) Universal Progress

The UN Environment

The United Nations Environment Program contributes in many aspects to the restoration and conservation of mangrove ecosystems� Its reports issued collaboratively with experts in this field not only provides reliable data and professional analysis for further reference, but also serves to raise awareness of the importance of mangroves and educate people� From its database and expertise, it is able to offer universally applicable insight to the policy makers around the world and coordinate as well as assess projects on a local basis�

The universal efforts under its leadership have experienced some changes with the accumulation of experience and further research� For example, projects in recent years no longer regard planting mangroves as the single most important process� The understanding of restoration has shifted, emphasizing a comprehensive understanding of the loss of mangroves in an area and working with the natural recovery processes that all ecosystems have (Lewis, 2004)� Such realization has made projects much more cost-effective�

Progress made in restoring mangrove cover for the locations analysed

(UN Environment, 2014c)

One specific contribution made by the UN Environment is the Guiding Principles for



Delivering Coastal Wetland Carbon Projects� Although this is merely a report issued under the UN Environment and entails no specific actions, it provides guidance for a range of interventions, including adjustment in policies, management or project-based investments� It incorporates lessons learned and case studies from coastal wetland management and restoration as well as terrestrial carbon projects, aiming to include coastal wetland management with climate change mitigation strategies� It mentions and attributes further responsibility onto existing and evolving mechanisms, such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+), and Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs)�

This guidance serves well to support policy makers, coastal management practitioners and civil society organizations in devising projects and activities in coastal wetlands that best achieve the goals of preserving coastal ecosystems as well as engaging and satisfying locals in the process� (UN Environment, 2014c)

Mangrove Action Project

Mangrove Action Project (hereafter MAP) was set up in 1992 as a global network addressing the rising mangrove loss worldwide� Over the years, MAP’s international network has grown to include over 500 NGOs and 350 scientists and academics from over 60 nations� Originally a network-and advocacy focused organization, it is now actively engaged in programs and activities on the ground, supported through local offices in Thailand and Indonesia, as well as close partner groups in S� Asia, Latin America and S� Africa�

MAP differentiates itself in that it takes a bottom-up approach� Its primary targets are indigenous coastal residents and hopes to solve problems on the regional level� It aims to help these people to recognize the importance of mangroves and increase their participation and relevance in the preservation and restoration projects

In terms of education, MAP has introduced Marvelous Mangroves, an integrated educational curriculum for primary school children, now being taught in twelve regions� Children’s Mangrove Art Calendar is another incentive to attract children to ensure the next generation understands this topic� As for grown-ups, especially stakeholders, MAP works through In the Hands of Fishers (IHOF) workshops that target both communities and NGOs to enable capacity building and inter-regional information sharing�

b) Regional Attempts

Regional efforts regarding this issue mostly consist of replantation of mangroves and restoration of surrounding environment, in accordance with the features and requirements of different areas in the world�

Among the most successful projects in decades is the project in Gazi Bay on the Kenyan coast� It is a “Blue Forests” initiative called Mikoko Pamoja (“mangroves together” in Swahili)� It enables around 4,000 mangrove seedlings to be planted every year� As the



world’s first conservation project to link mangrove forests to the global carbon market, Mikoko Pamoja is well worth studying�

Its success can be attributed to two aspects� First, its fund came from selling carbon credits to people and organizations through the Scottish charity ACES� Second, the interest of the local community was well taken into consideration, ranging from provision of fresh water to textbooks and renovation of classrooms, as well as increase in income�

c) Other Efforts

Among the various attempts of different countries, the case of the Sundarbans is worthy of discussion� It extends from the Hooghly River in India’s state of West Bengal to the Baleswar River in Bangladesh� As the home to one of the world’s largest mangrove forests, it covers an area of about 10,000 km2 where all killing or capture of wildlife other than fish and some invertebrates is banned. In 1984, the Sundarbans National Park was set up to protect the vast range of mangroves and some endangered species that inhabit the area� Hence, the management and administration of the Park and surrounding area has been distributed between several related governing bodies� The State Government of Bangladesh as well as the Ministry of Environment and Forests provides financial support. As four protected areas in the Sundarbans are enlisted as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the World Heritage Fund also provides financial assistance to both countries. In 2000, the Ministry of Environment and Forests of Bangladesh announced the establishment of a ‘gene bank’ located here to preserve the diversity of species� It serves to preserve the rich species of mangroves here as well as providing a platform for the recording and research of other species worldwide� Overall, governments of both countries have been committed to its protection despite the pressure from population growth, industrial exploitation, etc�

Extended Issues

Apart from bringing many ecological and biological benefits, mangroves are increasingly serving as an attraction in the tourism industry� For example, in Shenzhen, China, a seaside nature reserve is open to tourists and charges a small amount of money for tickets� The revenues generated by tourism in turn funds the protection and restoration of its environment� Such reserves also have huge educational value� Because of this, many countries are integrating mangroves as an important element in developing the new ecotourism industry�



Problems to be Solved

Anthropogenic Pressures

a) Conversion of Mangrove to Aquaculture

Many researches believe that that the intervention of human beings is the major reason for the affected Mangrove regions� To quote from Nathan Thomas, the lead author on one of the mangrove studies, the aquaculture (mainly the shrimp farming) and the traditional agriculture (oil, palm and rice) were evaluated to be the top factors driving the issues in the mangrove ecosystems, since while the mangrove ecosystems are mainly including the forest sections, the whole ecosystem actually is based on the maritime regions� The trees and shrubs with their roots deeply into the water help all the creatures in this ecosystem withstand from the storms and the incidental sea-level rise�

Therefore, once the mangrove regions are replaced to develop the aquaculture as the hunting pond for the sea farmers to catch shrimps and other seafood, the whole water will be “updated” to become a mostly artificial area� One thing that needs special attention is that the removal of the mangrove ecosystem does not merely refer to the uprooting of the plants there, but more importantly the creatures from microbes and planktons to the maritime animals will all be influenced� Moreover, since that the mangrove forests serve the function to grasp the soil from the soil erosion and water loss, the conversion to aquaculture is currently being complained and charged for such irresponsibility to the overall mangrove ecosystem�

b) Coastal Development

Once upon a time, the mangrove areas are considered as one of the most popular destinations for the tourist to enjoy the so-called eco-tour, and in such tours, people will have the opportunities to immerse into the beauty of nature� Nevertheless, nowadays the surging tourism gradually becomes the burden of the local natural sites� For most of the tourists, it is not the mangroves themselves enjoyable, but the beaches and sea shore� Plus, usually the mangrove forest greatly hinders the view and the path to the beach access, the tourism administration always chooses to cut down certain trees and clear up the water path�

Besides, being comfortable during the tour trips when going across the mangrove forests to the beaches is another threshold to attract the tourists, while the environment surrounding the path is not as convenient as expected, since many harmful insects like mosquitoes and living bugs will hurt the people from time to time� To solve such issues, the tour administrative office often tries to reduce the number of the creatures by destroying the relevant trees and ground plants, as their living habitats� Such practice is with no doubt an effective one to decrease the disturbing insects on the standpoint of



tourism, but for the mangrove system, the change is destructive, since a little difference in the creature chain inside the ecosystem will influence all the relevant factors and then result in some unforeseeable but worrying outcomes�

c) Overexploitation of Timber and Pollution

Although compared with the potential damages from the tourism and aquaculture, the timber exploration seems minor, the long-term damage could not be ignored� Besides the function of providing the oxygen and necessary gas circulation around the mangrove region, mangrove forests also keep the soil surrounded stable and solid from some unexpected climate changes like the sea level rise and hurricanes� Once the soil could not be gathered by the tree roots, water flow would easily crush them away and shake the basis of such area� Without the protection of the forests, the frequency of floods and other water-related disasters will surge and tourism, as well as the aquaculture, will be badly influenced�

Moreover, the pollution issue should be highlighted, especially when the visitors flush into the region� With the varying level of awareness to have dissent behavior dealing with the trash along with them during the trip� It is needless to reiterate the harm of leaving the rubbish in the natural site, and the chemicals in the trash will soon spread around the ecosystem since the whole system is circulating, slowly but firmly. Long-term pollution does harm to the environment, and also the tourists traveling there, making the mangrove ecosystem vulnerable�

Climate Change

Unlike the human activities that have an impact on the mangrove ecosystem, the climate changes appear incidental and hard to anticipate� Also because of the extreme weathers happen all around the world, the focus on the climate changes within the mangrove ecosystems actually points at the general picture of climate changes around the world�

The first typical disaster is the storms with higher frequency and severity� While it is said that the mangrove trees actually to some degrees prevent such disasters, the ever increasing intensity makes mangrove trees harder to withstand the extreme weathers� Sometimes the storm could uproot the plants in the ecosystem, and harm the tourism there. With no effective measures, the visitors may lose confidence on such site and the reputation of this region will be affected� Moreover, the damage to the ecosystem itself is a problem to be tackled� Local species may be brought out to distant areas, and the exotic species may be accidentally brought here, and the whole system needs a long period of time to go back to the stable condition�

The second common result from the climate change, as is debated for many years, is the rise of sea level� According to the researches from IUCN, the mangrove ecosystem suffers from the great vulnerability to the sea-level rise, since the mangrove sediment surface



elevations are not keeping pace with the sea rise (IUCN, 2019)� As a result, the region of mangrove will be reduced and even eliminated� While more researches on the effect of sea-level rise to the mangrove still need to be verified, the current potential damages should be a warning to us�

Other extreme conditions emerge less frequently, but when we consider the climate change as a whole when issuing the mangrove ecosystem, its worrying power will have huge impacts� Some more complex phenomena, like the ocean circulation patterns, adjacent ecosystem responses and interactions, etc� could be better and further evaluated�



Possible Solutions

Preservation of the Remaining Mangrove Habitat

The way to preserve mangrove habitat includes improving the methods of protection and preventing mangroves from overdeveloping� The most common way to preserve mangrove habitat is to build protected areas in undisturbed spots, including the establishment of national parks, nature reserves and international protected sites� However, due to the destruction of human activities, some mangrove forest reserves fail to play its role of protection� As mentioned before, many mangroves are destroyed because they prevent tourists from enjoying seashore� Instead of cutting down the trees to build roads, transplanting the mangroves to nearby places is a better choice� Besides, to eliminate the diseases caused by mosquitoes and other pests, isolation belts such as the fences used between mangrove forests and roads should be established� In order to implement these ideas, local authorities and communities should assume the responsibility of supervision and maintenance of protected areas� In addition, in some areas where the regulatory system is relatively developed, it’s possible for environmental sectors to cooperate with local government lands such as parks in protecting mangrove habitats, and the admission fees to these places can be used to mangrove cultivation and planting�

In the process of protection, understanding the science of mangrove hydrology is a crucial step� Due to the special requirements for living environment, disruption of freshwater flowing to mangrove forest might kill mangroves� Nevertheless, many preservation projects have paid too much attention on tidal and freshwater within the forests and ignored the significance of inundation and dryness period that govern the health of the forests� (Roy R� Lewis III, 2004)� Under this situation, certain project planners and ecological engineers need more professional knowledge before implementing to raise the efficiency of the projects.

Mangrove plants is regarded as ideal material for building boats and furniture� Considering both of the requirements and the worsening situation mangroves faced, comprehensive utilization of mangrove plants is supposed to be propelled by carrying out incentive measures� In addition, innovations on developing alternatives is a feasible way to solve the problem�

Restoration and Enhancement of Mangrove Habitat

Worldwide mangrove forests have the self-healing ability if the local tidal hydrology isn’t disrupted� Under the premise of unblocked availability of waterborne mangrove seeds or seedlings from nearby stands, mangrove habitats experience secondary succession in 15-30 years (Lewis 2000)� If the tidal hydrology is normal but the seeds are blocked, planting should be adopted�



Because mangrove can be restored without planting, relevant sectors should first identify the existence of disrupted hydrology or other environmental factors preventing mangrove reproduction� It is a pity that lots of restoration projects skip the process of analyzing the reasons and go directly into planting, which is a waste of money as well� If environmental stresses exist, measures related to improving environment should be taken initially, such as dealing with blocked tidal inundation that prevents the occurrence of secondary succession� If the environmental factors do not exist at all or they have been dealt with successfully, it’s time to undertake research on natural seedling recruitment� Planting should only be adopted when natural recruitment is not occurring� (Lewis and Streever, 2000)�

Conducting Additional Research

In recent years, biological invasion in mangrove forests is becoming more and more serious with the expansion of human activity� For instance, a so-called killer plant named Mikania Micrantha, originated from Central and South America, was discovered in Guangdong, China� The alien plant breeds so fast that it could cover a tree around 1�8 meters in height in less than 3 years, which leads to the death of the local trees� Governments put lots of capital into the action of eliminating the alien plants and the negative impacts it brought but failed� In addition to using medical methods, delegates should focus more on the weakness of the spread and reproduction of alien plants to remove their harm to the mangrove habitats� Besides, pest control is also critical� Adopting effective measures of controlling pests will greatly increase the survival rates of mangroves�

Except for the research on improving external environmental condition for mangroves, it’s necessary to support some scientific research projects, aiming at the internal factors such as through the technique of genetically modified to change the environmental requirements of mangroves� If this succeeds, cultivating mangroves in inland areas becomes possible and mangroves habitats will largely expand� Besides, related economic support is significant, such as loosing the loan policies appropriate for practical scientific projects�

Once there is a breakthrough in preserving and restoring mangrove forests, technology transfer is an important path� In some under-developed areas, due to the lack of technology, some mangrove forests are not protected properly, and the damaged habitats cannot be restored� Therefore, international seminar is encouraged for spreading the new technology and methods in governing mangrove habitats�

Increasing Public Awareness

Many destroyers may be unaware of the negative impacts of their actions on mangrove forests and some even do not have the knowledge of the enacted laws to protect it� Global



Mangrove Alliance (GMA) launched an environmental education program in Panama City� The program teaches students the importance of mangrove and wetland weekly, especially for the citizens living near the mangrove habitat� Besides, the program also provides opportunities for students to have close contact with mangrove which is the first time for most of them to see a mangrove up close (GMA, initiatives)�

The UN Environment can also cooperate with some non-government organizations that focus on the protection of mangroves to launch volunteer activities aiming to spread the functions of mangrove forests and the potential methods that affect mangrove habitats, particularly in the adjacent communities of mangroves�



Bloc Positions

China

China is one of the largest countries in the world, and in Asia, it produces a large amount of plastic wastes year by year while long ago the Chinese government has begun to seek for measures to handle such problems� One typical policy coming in China is the well-known policy of setting a price on the plastic bags in the supermarkets in 2008 (General Office of State Council, 2007). With the paid plastic bags during the buying, the habit of customers could be discouraged and instead to prepare in advance the cloth bag and hold their purchases�

Another reform in China is the campaign of sorting trashes� In the past several years, rubbish boxes gradually appeared in many cities, along the street, in the living building and around the public areas� Generally, the trash boxes are categorized as recyclable and unrecyclable ones for people to dump. To be more specific, some regions come up with more detailed sorting like the plastic products, batteries, paper, waste of meals, etc� to further raise the efficiency in the later-on trash processing procedure� It should be acknowledged that such a policy greatly put plastic products together�

As for the mangrove, China has put a lot of efforts into the protection and conservation of it� The China Mangrove Conservation Network (CMCN) founded in 2001 aims to establish a shared platform to gather the resources from the government, multinational companies and the private sectors to improve the development and prosperity of Chinese wetlands along the coast, including the mangrove ecosystems� The organization has initiated many projects to protect the current mangrove areas, released seasonal report on the progress and spread some basic knowledge of the mangrove growth and its significance of protecting it�

One typical project from CMCN is the China Mangrove Pre-Alert Mechanism Project, which dedicates to the frequent check on the mangrove reservation region (CMCN, 2013)� Once certain region faces serious problems, the whole mechanism will start the precautious action, after which the CMCN group will release the report to tell the public on how the issue is dealt with� Such a pre-alert mechanism is a good example for other countries�

Japan

Japan, though owning one of the most advanced rubbish sorting systems in the world, shows somewhat complex attitudes towards plastic pollution� On the one side, Japan has been stepping forward on the disposable plastic or non-plastic products than many other countries, while on the other side, in the G7 summit last year, Japan, together with



the United States of America, abstained from signing the “Ocean Plastic Charter” held in Canada, which included the guarantee of the 100 percent reuse, recycling and collection of all the plastic products by 2030 (The Japan times, 2018)� One explanation on this decision from the Japanese government is that the country has not yet been ready to evaluate the impact of the G7 policy to the Japanese� Such a claim should be further verified to see whether Japan is truly not yet starting to focus on the influence, or it is just forced by its alliances to make the abstain�

Meanwhile, we need to admit the achievement by Japan on its efforts to cut down on plastic usage� Japan currently has the legislation on the reduction of the microplastics and microbeads in the manufacturing products process and orders the factories to construct their waste recycling chain especially the plastic ones, in order to better tackle such kind of wastes�

Here is one highly relevant organization of mangrove locating its headquarters in Okinawa, Japan, named the International Society for Mangrove Ecosystems (ISME)� Led under the UNDP/UNESCO Regional Mangrove Projects, the ISME uses the resources in Japan to launch many global level protection projects on the mangrove ecosystems�

For the past several years, ISME has initiated many projects all around the world, and they are mostly private sectors or government funding, etc� who are greatly willing to help promote the conservation of mangroves� For example, the Mangroves Planting Project in Maldives was funded by the Japan Fund for Global Environment; the planting project in Brazil was supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency� Therefore, Japan indeed makes quite a lot of contributions to the protection and development of mangrove ecosystems�

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asian countries as well as the Pacific Island countries also put great efforts into the plastic pollution issue� Besides the joint efforts made by ASEAN, countries themselves in Southeast Asia contribute a lot domestically� Take the typical country, Philippines as an example� Once, the Philippines has long been considered as the world’s third largest contributor to the plastic issues, with 1�8 million tons annually (Earth Journalism Network, 2018)� Therefore, it is urgent to come up with strong actions against such problems. So far, the government and environment office of the Philippines divide the solutions into the short-term and long-term ones� For the next several years, bills to ban, phase-out, regulate or tax any activities that are potentially leading to the plastic waste will be sent to Congress for review� Several governmental units are also initiating the environmental-friendly products to replace the current plastic ones�

As for the long-term solutions, the government would like to emphasise on two parts, namely the efficient waste management and the rise of awareness of the public on the usage of plastic products� By closing certain high-waste manufacturing enterprises and relevant companies, the waste could be reduced from its origin� Also, in the long term, if



the public citizens could be more cautious on the plastic bags and other products, it will be more effective for the factories to deal with the waste and decompose them�

In Southeastern Asia, decision-makers may face a severe dilemma when concerning the food production and the protection on wetlands and mangrove regions� For the major concern, the mass population need enough food and agricultural development is one of the essential parts to the overall economic growth� Like in 2015, the president of Indonesia announced a new agriculture plan in Papua, aiming to increase food and stimulate the economic growth� Due to that Papua is one of the richest mangrove holder provinces in Indonesia, the environmentalists are worried that such policies could bring substantial environmental and social impacts in the future� Other southeastern countries may have the similar situations�

Africa

Due to the lack of sewage treatments, it is hard for African countries to supervise and deal with the plastic fragments properly because of their lack of infrastructure and technology� Several countries are under the help of other countries and organizations in the way of promoting legislation on plastic pollution and taking effective actions� For instance, as mentioned previously, three of the five countries within the Marine Plastics and Coastal Communities, namely South Africa, Mozambique and Kenya, are being helped to promote the green economy and reduce plastic pollution�

Africa has a wide area of mangrove forests� However, fragmentation, deforestation and degradation of the mangrove ecosystem by petroleum exploration and related industrial activities and domestic uses have become the major concerns to the mangrove communities, the African environmentalists and conservationists� In Nigeria, community struggles are directed towards operators of petroleum and allied industries for provision of alternative employment, healthcare facilities, improved rural technologies etc� in place of destroyed life-supporting mangrove bases (Abere and Ekeke, 2016)�

However, some efforts were made to make up for the situation� The world’s first conservation project to link mangrove forests to the global carbon market is located in Gazi Bay on the Kenyan coast (UN Environment, 2017)� The project on mangrove conservation and restoration raises money by selling carbon credits to people and organizations eager to reduce their carbon footprint, through the Scottish charity ACES (UN Environment, 2017). The fund also benefits the local community by supporting education and infrastructure�

Europe

Europe always plays a leading role in environment protecting issues� After setting objectives on marine pollution, the European Commission presented an ambitious target



of “reducing marine litter by 30% by 2020 for the ten most common types of litter found on beaches, as well as for the fishing gear found at sea”� Also, at the EU level, in the country reports of member states, most of the targets relevant to marine litter are based on EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), as the countries having marine waters have to specify a Program of Measures� (International Union for Conservation of Nature, 2019)

To achieve their targets, a majority of the member states have set forth all-round policies including dealing with plastic production affecting oceans, plastic disposal entering the oceans and plastic waste that are already in the oceans� Some countries such as Austria cooperate with major trade companies and NGOs to reduce the plastic bags use, and some even adopted a ban on the use of plastic bags� Furthermore, in Italy, the parliament approved the law demanding a ban on the use of microplastics on cosmetics� As for the plastic waste in the oceans already, some countries work with local fishermen to remove the litter from the sea� However, some European countries are still in the process of developing and improving legislation on marine pollution, such as Romania�

For the restoration and conservation of mangrove forests, some European countries are dedicated to working on the methods to conserve international mangrove forests� For instance, in United Kingdom Edinburgh Napier team has set up a project to conserve mangrove forest in Kenya in 2008, which funds forest conservation work by earning carbon credits that can be sold� The project has motivated the planting of more than 10,000 mangrove trees and training of 46 African scientists� Besides, UK researchers also assisted African countries to establish a charity served to coastal ecosystem in tropical regions� (UK Collaborative on Development Research, 2019)

Latin America and the Caribbean

Mexico is one country in the region that has taken the lead to alleviate plastic pollution, specifically in the realm of legislation� The State of Veracruz is the first state in the country to put limitations on the usage of plastics and advocate substitute materials� The state of Baja California followed suit and the state of Querétaro has passed a law to totally ban any sales or distribution of plastics bags� Other states are also assessing and exploring the possibilities of setting up laws and regulations against plastic usage� This is a good example of tackling plastic waste through legislation and Mexico serves as a pioneer in this region� Volunteers in Mexico are also active in taking part in international events regarding plastic waste, such as the Beach Clean-up day�

As for the preservation of mangroves, Mexico, again, stands out in this region as the mangroves on its territory account for up to 5% of the mangroves around the world� The State Forestry Commission has recognized their importance and is carrying out a series of replantation and restoration efforts and put in large amount of investments� Notably, the majority of mangroves in Mexico are within the most important national nature reserves� Still, mangroves in Mexico face a lot of challenges as the country struggles



with its economic development and growing population� This is also the general situation across this region that requires delegates to dwell further on this issue�

North America

North America shows great concerns to these two environmental problems and contributes it efforts to solve them� Canada has the longest coastline in the world and has been at the forefront of international efforts to protect the marine environment� In 2017, the Canadian government published a regulation which prohibits the production, import and sale of toiletries containing microbeads and microplastics� In the same year, Canada announced its participation in CleanSeas campaign, launched by the UN Environment� And in the United States, most of the states and cities have banned the use of the most contaminated plastic� Some major companies such as Nike are devoted to developing new plastics made from plant materials which can be easily degraded�

The Everglades, located in the southern part of Florida, has the largest mangrove ecosystem in the Western Hemisphere� The mangroves in south Florida are tropical species which makes it vulnerable to sharp temperature fluctuations� Although mangroves can be affected easily by nature factors, human activity is the major cause of its endangerment� In 1999, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida set up a long-term mangrove monitoring study to assess the overall health of the Clam Bay System which is still ongoing until now� The Clam Bay System suffers from hydrologic alteration and anthropogenic factors continually including storm water runoff and dredging� Therefore, monitoring the system annually is necessary, so that restoration and other measures can be taken as soon as the problems arise (Conservancy of Southwest Florida, 2019)�

West Asia

In June 2018, Waitrose, a restaurant brand in Abu Dhabi, started to charge fees for every plastic bag� It also encourages the recycling of plastics� Such moves show the recognition of responsibilities and determination of the United Arab Emirates and are in line with the ‘Vision 2021’ proposed by its cabinet�

UAE is also unique in that its Mangrove in Abu Dhabi is a part of the natural scenery along the coastline� Therefore, some companies in the tourism industry has cooperated with the environmental protection department and invested heavily to replenish the mangrove forests so as to reduce the damage caused by intense human activities and build a better scenic spot to attract tourists� Because of this, the total number of mangroves in the country has remained steady�

The above case of the UAE illustrates that as countries like the UAE try to improve national strength and elevate their status in the international community, actively making progress in environmental issues as such will be a sign to show their willingness and capacity to take responsibility for global affairs�



Questions to Consider1� How does plastic pollution in the oceans affect the marine ecosystem? Why does it matter to not only coastal countries, but also inland countries?

2� How to fairly determine the share of responsibility taken in tackling marine plastic debris among countries, especially those who suffer a lot from the problem due to geographical reasons?

3� How to improve the effectiveness of current incentives for recycling and reducing plastic usage? Are there better ways?

4� Though many coastal areas have already established protected zones, the conditions of mangrove forests did not get better� How to solve this problem and how to make the protected zones play its role?

5� How can countries strive for environmental protection without compromising economic development through combining it with other businesses or creating new business models? How can the revenues generated from related industries such as tourism be more efficiently utilized in turn for preservation and restoration?



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Background Guide...2019 .Ì'i5B¨âW·K> ë0V5B8Ð( Beijing International Model United Nations 2019 Background Guide United Nations Environment Programme Topic A: Reducing Plastic