The growing global population and an increasing number of travellers are key contributors to pollution at ocean and sea beaches. Famous coastal areas worldwide are facing various forms of pollution, making it essential for countries with coastlines to conserve their coastal and marine ecosystems.
The coastal ecosystem includes natural infrastructures such as mangrove forests, coastal forests, and coral reefs. These ecosystems play a crucial role in absorbing large amounts of carbon dioxide, a critical factor in climate change. Damage to these ecosystems can worsen climate change, harm local biodiversity, and disrupt fish and prawn production, as well as fisheries that rely on mangroves, coral reefs, sea grass, and other coastal features.
Over the past 30 years, coastal ecosystems have deteriorated significantly, affecting the livelihoods of around 1.5 million people annually. Climate change is also taking a toll, with approximately 40 per cent of people living in coastal regions suffering from the impacts of cyclones each year. Myanmar, which holds three-fifths of the Bay of Bengal’s ecosystem, boasts rich marine biodiversity but faces severe environmental challenges.
Myanmar’s coastal ecosystems, including mangrove forests, coral reefs, and sea grass, are vital for supporting the country’s products and services. Unfortunately, these natural infrastructures are rapidly deteriorating due to various factors. Urgent action is needed to conserve mangrove forests and improve the nation’s climate resilience.
One major problem is the disposal of large amounts of plastic, electronic waste, and agricultural debris into rivers and creeks by people living near coastal areas.
Additionally, tourists visiting beaches leave plastic waste behind, contributing to the widespread presence of plastics in rivers, creeks, and oceans globally. These plastic particles are harmful not only to marine life but also to the human food chain.
Plastic products, although inexpensive and widely used, take hundreds of years to decompose. This long-lasting waste threatens both marine ecosystems and human health. Therefore, it is critical for individuals to reconsider their waste disposal habits, particularly when it comes to plastics. Proper waste management and conservation efforts are crucial to protect coastal ecosystems and mitigate the long-term damage caused by pollution.
Systematic conservation of seas and coastal areas contributes significantly to the food security of the country, the socioeconomic development of people, and the prevention of natural disasters. When it fails to control the undisciplined extraction of coastal resources, cleanup of beaches, and systematic disposal of plastic waste, everything will lead to the deterioration of the coastal ecosystem, bearing disadvantages to society.