ENVIRONMENTAL charity Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful is calling on schools to sign up to the `Coastal Schools' programme to educate post-primary pupils about the dangers of marine plastic pollution.
Delivered by the Eco-Schools project, the goal of the initiative is also to help reduce plastic littering behaviour amongst young people.
A total of 30 schools in Northern Ireland will have the opportunity to take advantage of the scheme, which is open until March 2022.
Dedicated field officers will lead workshops educating pupils about the harmful effects of marine plastic pollution to the health of the ocean and marine wildlife.
This will be followed by an OSPAR marine litter beach survey along the local coastline.
Schools are reminded that engaging with this scheme will count towards evidence accepted for Eco-School’s internationally recognised 'Green Flag' award scheme.
Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful hopes the project will highlight the problem of plastic pollution in the north.
Charlene McKeown from the charity said: "Providing our young people with the opportunity to be involved in `citizen science' is very empowering.
"Offering students the opportunity to play their part in data gathering to help inform others on the issues around single-use plastic and marine litter will help build resilience in our youth to deal with the future."
Brian Dunlop, a teacher at Ulidia Integrated College in Carrickfergus, said: "This programme is a wonderful and invaluable experience for the students.
"To understand the impact of single-use plastics is to understand a key issue in this generation," he said.
To contact the environmental education team, please email eco-schools@keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org
