- Title: Environmental activists calls on Cubans 'to pick up the rubbish' from beaches
- Date: 30th September 2019
- Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (SEPTEMBER 28, 2019) (REUTERS) UNDERWATER IMAGES OF DIVERS COLLECTING RUBBISH FROM SEABED VARIOUS OF RUBBISH BEING PLACED INTO BAG DIVERS COLLECTING BOTTLES FROM SEABED / PLACING INTO BAG SNORKELER COMING UP FOR AIR (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CUBAN RESIDENT, YOANDY FERNANDEZ, SAYING: "We already dive and collect everything such as cans, waste, plastics, nylon bags, soaps that remain at the bottom (of sea bed) that currents drag along and gather at the bottom." BIRD ON SEA EDGE VARIOUS OF RUBBISH SEEN ON BEACH RESIDENTS AND ACTIVISTS COLLECTING RUBBISH ON BEACH (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CUBAN RESIDENT, ADELINA HERNANDEZ, SAYING: "For a while now we've been seeing that the beach is very dirty and that few actions are taken to clean the beach. We see how children bathe in the rubbish, how the parents themselves do not make children aware and let them bathe in the rubbish." GENERAL OF PEOPLE CLEANING COAST FAMILY COLLECTING RUBBISH IN COSTA MAN WALKING WITH RUBBISH TO PUT IN SACK ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST, BIOLOGIST LORENA GONZALEZ, CLEANING COAST (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST, BIOLOGIST LORENA GONZALEZ, SAYING: "We launched a call that is nothing more than an invitation to pick up the rubbish that people leave on the beaches. It's done once a month, the last Saturday of each month. We launched the call via Facebook and other social media networks that people share, and everyone who is interested in helping us comes to the beaches we are going to clean." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE COLLECTING RUBBISH BAGS OF RUBBISH STACKED UP (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST, BIOLOGIST LORENA GONZALEZ, SAYING: "We all know the problem there is right now with plastic in the oceans, with environmental pollution, how the coral reef and other marine ecosystems are being affected, and in Cuba people are deeply rooted in the sea, so it is a way to help in a certain way what they love most, which is the ocean." GENERAL OF GONZALEZ DIRECTING VOLUNTEERS GIRLS WALKING ALONG BEACH, COLLECTING RUBBISH VARIOUS OF RESIDENTS COLLECTING RUBBISH
- Embargoed: 14th October 2019 18:36
- Keywords: rubbish collecting initiative cleaning pollution Cuba Havana environment beaches
- Location: HAVANA, CUBA
- City: HAVANA, CUBA
- Country: Cuba
- Topics: Pollution,Environment,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA001AYUP9VR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Rubbish accumulation has become a problem at beaches in Havana, where groups of residents and sea lovers have begun to come together to clean the coast and seek to raise awareness about environmental care.
On the less touristy coast to the west of the city, a carpet of rubbish ranging from cans to bottles and soap lie on the seabed among coral, rocks, sand and vegetation.
Volunteers led by surfer and biologist Lorena Gonzalez meet to collect the rubbish once a month, gathering dozens of bags at a time.
Gonzalez, who heads a surfing teaching project for children, started the initiative three months ago and launched calls on social networks to help clean the beaches to protect the environment.
Dozens of people, including friends, neighbours and strangers, have joined in.
According to Gonzalez, more awareness and education are needed to prevent people from soiling the beaches. Lack of rubbish bins on beaches also contributes to the problem, she said, as well as the rise of animal sacrifices by the sea carried out by those who practice the Yoruba religion.
Cuba relies on its beaches for tourism.
Activists, the scientific community and the government have also made calls to safeguard the coasts which act as natural barriers to sea elevation faced by the island, which is one of its main long-term challenges of climate change.
(Production: Nelson Gonzalez, Anett Rios, Geraldine Downer) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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