A Strategy for Improving the Forth Estuary Environment (STRIFE)

The convenience of the ocean as a disposal site and the perception of the ocean as having a limitless capacity have long made ocean disposal of wastes commonplace. Only recently have the extent and effects of this marine pollution been recognised. In the early 1970s the American National Academy of Science estimated that 6.4 million metric tons of garbage were being discarded into the ocean each year from vessels alone.

"While progress is being made to improve the quality of the waters of the Forth Estuary and its coastal areas, pollution from a range of sources is still a major problem.... plastic litter is the most common pollutant... personal sanitary items escape sewage systems and are discharged into the Forth... and garbage from ships despite regulations, remains a major source of estuarine pollution"

(Forth Estuary Forum : Coastal and Marine Pollution Topic Report, 1995)

 

Summary (November 1998)

The responses to the problems of marine pollution and debris in the Forth Estuary so far have been haphazard and uncoordinated. Some aspects of the problem have not been addressed; some have been addressed in an inefficient and costly way; and, where legislation exists, it has rarely been implemented.

Pollution and debris in the estuary have wide-ranging adverse consequences for the economy of the estuary, for wildlife, and for other countries around the North Sea.

Any strategy for improving the marine environment of the Forth Estuary must include two elements : co-operation; between the various organisations charged with the conservation of the estuary, and between those organisations and the industries and communities that use the estuary; and novel technical solutions to the problems of the Forth Estuary. LWCT has both the experience in project management and the expertise to provide such a strategy and make it work.

LWCT proposes to develop such a strategy - STRIFE - over the next twelve months, and, over the subsequent two years, to implement it.

 

Contents

  • Introduction
    Details of the effects of marine pollution and litter; the need to counter it.

  • Project Objective - First Year
    Assessment of the problem; investigation of solutions; formulation of STRIFE.

  • Project Objectives - Second and Third Years
    Production of the STRIFE document and report; raised public awareness of the problems; public involvement in STRIFE; implementation first through pilot projects then on a general scale.

  • Further Work
    Use of the strategy as a model for other estuaries in Scotland and elsewhere.
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Living Water Charitable Trust - S T R I F E Summary & Index
December 1998