Quang Ngai (VNA) - The InternationalUnion for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has launched a communication campaignto cut the use of plastic bags on Ly Son island, as a prelude to its sea turtleconservation programme on the island.

IUCN’s Marine and Coastal resourceprogramme co-ordinator Bui Thi Thu Hien said the communication campaign, whichis scheduled for May 15 to June 1, aims to raise awareness among islanders andtourists of the need to create clean and safe marine areas for sea turtlesreturning to the island.

She said the programme will encourage hotelowners and tour operators to commit to providing free drink water for touristswhen visiting the islands as part of the initiative ‘Refill, Not Landfill’.

The campaign also wants to send a message ‘Down1 bottle, Save the Future’, to reduce the use of single-use plastic bags tosave the ocean from plastic pollution.

Last year, IUCN, with financial supportfrom the US Fish and Wildlife Service and in collaboration with Ly Son island district,debuted a collection of 30 murals with the theme ‘I love the ocean, and I’mborn to be wild’ in An Binh islet commune, focusing on protecting the marineturtle, a species considered an indicator of the status of the coastalenvironment.

Quang Ngai beaches, including areas in BinhSon district on Ly Son island, had 200 sea turtles regularly approaching thebeaches to lay their eggs in the 1980s.

However, the figure dropped by 90 percentbetween 1980 and 2000 due to rapid urbanisation, over-fishing and the constructionof concrete dykes.

On Cham island, a world biosphere reservesite in Quang Nam province, the management board of Cham island’s MarineProtected Area has begun a campaign to stop the use of plastic straws andsingle-use plastic cups among locals and visitors.

The local community is being encouraged toreuse and recycle material straws (metal, bamboo or grass).

The island, 20km off the coast of Hoi Anbeach, was the first locality in Vietnam banning the use of plastic bags andpromoting the 3-R (reduce, reuse and recycle) programmes in 2011.

Island officials said all tourists arewarned to leave nylon bags on the mainland before going on a speedboat trip tothe island.

About 3,000 inhabitants of Cham island andtourists release three tonnes of garbage each day, according to the islandcommune’s committee.

About 4,800 colonies of coral have beengrown on an area of 4,000sq.m since 2012, and the island is home to 1.26sq.kmof coral reefs.

It hosts some 100,000 tourists annually, 10percent of whom are foreigners.

Cham island’s Marine Protected Areamanagement board has also launched electronic tickets instead of paper fortravelling to the island.

The digital system helps limit paper usefor ticket printing and reduces waste.-VNA