The public is encouraged to participate in the 24th annual International Coastal Cleanup, which begins this September. Organized globally by the Ocean Conservancy, the U.S.V.I. Coastweeks effort is coordinated locally by the University of the Virgin Islands, the V.I. Department of Planning and Natural Resources’ Coastal Zone Management Division, Friends of the V.I. National Park and the V.I. Waste Management Authority.
Cleanups of beaches and watershed areas are being planned throughout the territory, with the effort beginning on Sept. 19, at Brewers Bay Beach on UVI’s St. Thomas campus. They will be held at numerous other locations on St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John during the remainder of September and into October.
Some 390,000 volunteers, including 1,394 in the U.S.V.I., turned out for the 2008 International Coastal Cleanup. Those volunteers collected 18,598 pounds of containers, nets, cigarettes and other assorted debris along 43 miles of shoreline.
More information on the 2009 USVI Coastweeks effort is available from these contacts:
St. Thomas – Heather Hitt, CZM outreach coordinator at 774-3320 ext. 5117 or heather.hitt@dpnr.gov.vi.
St. Croix – Marcia Taylor with V.I. Marine Advisory Service at 692-4046 or mtaylor@uvi.edu.
St. John – Audrey Penn with Friends of the V.I. National Park at 779-4940 or apenn@friendsvinp.org.
