΄Typhoon΄ in Corfu
CORFU. The ship has come to the island for the second time and is conducting daily coastal clean-ups.
The Athanasios K. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation focuses its activities on the protection of the marine environment and the fight against marine pollution on coastlines and seabeds. Marine pollution from waste is one of the main environmental issues of our time, and the Foundation contributes to its resolution by implementing its own environmental programmes, such as the “Typhoon Project,” a unique programme in the Mediterranean.
The Typhoon, a 72-metre Norwegian-built ship, is the “vehicle” of the programme that travels throughout Greece, 365 days a year, cleaning inaccessible coastlines. Its team, consisting of 35 permanent staff members, began its activities in 2019 and continues uninterrupted throughout the year. In August 2023, it completed four years of cleaning all the inaccessible beaches along the island coastlines and part of the mainland, while since February 2023, it has launched a series of repetitive clean-ups across Greece. To date, in six years of operation, the Typhoon team has cleaned more than 3,662 beaches, covered nearly 810,000 metres of coastline, and removed waste weighing 750 tons and a much larger volume, specifically more than 43,000 cubic metres.
As part of its second phase of action, the Typhoon has travelled to the Ionian Sea for the second time and is currently in Corfu, carrying out daily coastal clean-ups. So far, in 10 days of operation, its team has cleaned 14 beaches, removing more than 4 tons of waste, the majority of which is plastic (e.g., pieces of polystyrene, small plastic fragments, fishing nets, and pieces of netting). The Typhoon will remain in Corfu for the time being, contributing to the cleaning and restoration of its coastlines.
Every effort to protect the environment and the identity of the islands is important. However, to succeed, individual and collective initiatives, systematic awareness-raising, and, of course, the participation of each local community in environmental actions, such as those of the Typhoon, are necessary.
Photo: aclcf.org
