Help celebrate and support our coastline and blue planet this World Ocean Day

World Ocean Day (8 June) is a global campaign, marked each year that helps to highlight the importance of the shared ocean and urges people everywhere to unite and take action to protect it for the future.

Councillor Ernest Gibson is Lead Member for Neighbourhoods and Climate Change at South Tyneside Council and Chair of the Local Government Association’s Coastal Special Interest Group (SIG).

He said: “We all depend on a healthy ocean to survive and as a Council we continue to do what we can to safeguard it for the future, for bathing, for marine life and for the environment.

“This World Ocean Day we continue to urge residents and businesses to support our efforts by helping to prevent litter, particularly plastics, from getting in the ocean.

“Rising water temperatures and sea levels, changes in ocean chemistry and more frequent weather impacts can affect local seafood and tourism industries while accelerating coastal erosion and the risk to infrastructure and properties.

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“Simple things like taking litter home, recycling as much as possible and reducing the use of single-use items such as plastic bottles can make a real difference. By taking collective action, we can help to keep our seas, oceans and beaches clean and safe for all – humans and marine life alike.”

The Council declared an urgent need for ocean recovery in January 2022 through its ‘Motion for the Ocean’.

The Motion committed to Council to consider ocean recovery in its decision and policy making to help improve the way marine environments are used and managed, to rally support for local people to act as marine citizens and to lobby Central Government for change at national level.

The Council has recently challenged the Government for a more comprehensive all-year round water quality testing regime in response to concerns about sewage discharged into local waterways and the sea, from storm overflows.

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South Tyneside was one of the first local authorities in England, and the first in the region, to declare an urgent need for ocean recovery and, through the ‘Protect our Ocean’ campaign, continues to highlight the importance of wider coastal education around issues such as single-use plastics and reusable materials, and promoting positive action to enhance, restore and protect the ocean.

In addition to the extra 25 recycling bins placed at South Shields seafront last summer and new signage, the Council recently installed a new ‘Feed the fish’ structure at Sandhaven to encourage visitors to ‘feed’ it single-use plastic bottles so they can be recycled. It supports the Council’s efforts to keep litter off the beach and prevent it being washed into the ocean.

The Council also continues to lead the way for marine conservation regionally through projects such as SeaScapes and Stronger Shores and nationally in its role as Lead Authority for the LGA Coastal SIG.

Cllr Gibson added: “This year, 2023, is also the Year of the Coast – a celebration of England’s coastline and an chance to raise awareness and celebrate the importance of this natural asset.”

Find out more about ocean protection in South Tyneside at South Tyneside Council: What you can do.  More details of World Ocean Day are available at www.worldoceanday.org