Seychelles is becoming overwhelmed by marine plastic - but where does the debris come from?

More than 1,000km southwest of Mahé, the main inhabited island in Seychelles, lies a ring of coral islands called the Aldabra Atoll. The islands are a Unesco world heritage site and support a huge diversity of marine species including manta rays, tiger sharks and green turtles. Due to its remoteness, Aldabra has been protected by pollution but now things are changing as more and more debris gets “beached” on its coastline.

As it often happens in SIDS, none of the plastic that washes up on Aldabra comes from the islands themselves. Rather, to reach these remote beaches debris coming from industrialised countries must float in the ocean for months.

Plastics and other pollutants are rarely produced in SIDS, rather they arrive there through imports or the ocean. Once on site, they are very difficult and costly to manage and put in danger ecosystems and livelihoods. That's why at ISLANDS we are actively supporting the reduction and safe management of waste in small island states around the world.