Regional webinar on the draft marine litter monitoring inventory

Monitoring and assessment are indispensable in identifying marine litter status and trends and its most critical impacts, and to support development, tracking and evaluation of policy and management interventions. The Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA) Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter (RAP MALI) recognizes the need to improve knowledge on the main types, sources and amounts of litter that enter the marine and coastal environment in line with globally established guidelines.

Mapping of existing monitoring efforts in the region was identified as the first step towards preparing guidance on harmonized national marine litter monitoring programmes in a technical consultation of the COBSEA Working Group on Marine Litter (WGML) in June 2020.

Further to this, COBSEA and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) held a webinar for WGML focal points on 17 October 2020 to share information on the approach and process for compilation of a regional marine litter monitoring inventory. Consequently, COBSEA countries were invited to share information on existing monitoring efforts using a simple spreadsheet by end of 2020. Country inputs and desk research have been compiled in a draft monitoring inventory and initial recommendations identified towards strengthening monitoring.

The webinar aims to:

• Share information on the status and tentative findings of the ongoing mapping of monitoring efforts, highlight remaining gaps, and present initial recommendations on monitoring;
• Invite comments and feedback by WGML focal points and national experts to validate findings and identify additional information;
• Outline next steps toward finalizing the inventory and preparing regional guidance on harmonized monitoring based on information collected.

The webinar is targeted at WGML focal points and technical staff of government agencies responsible for marine litter monitoring and abatement in COBSEA countries, as well as technical experts, and SEA circular national consultants and technical partners who support national monitoring efforts. All WGML focal points are strongly encouraged to join the webinar and share the invitation with national experts and technical staff as relevant.