Old and new rubbish floats into the shore. Clearing everything away is described by the team at Mausund Field Station as an eternal project. – We would ideally have had 25 people working on this. Now there are six of us left, says Odd Arne Arnesen, project manager at Mausund Field Station. Must clear continuously The field station works, among other things, with the clearing of marine litter in the island regions south of Trøndelag. They cover the coast from Osen to the Møre border. – It is a continuous work. You just work your way through the shore, and then it’s five meters over to the next island and the next shore. The following year there has been a new influx and it is only a matter of starting again. They are an efficient group at the Mausund field station, but would ideally have been 20 cleaners more. Photo: Odd Arne Arnesen The coastal innovators clear island by island and islet by islet. They come back and clean the same places every two years, and then it can look as if it hasn’t been cleaned before. – And one island can be very much more polluted than the next. It is an eternity of work, says Arnesen. Losing funding Four years ago they lost support from the Norwegian Environment Agency. Since then, they have only received support from the trade’s environmental fund. After next year, this support will also disappear. This gives the plastic cleanup an uncertain future. – It is a very serious situation for those who are affected, and it affects us all, says Arnesen. Anything can find its way onto the Norwegian coast, and someone out there is probably missing their right sandal. Photo: Odd Arne Arnesen The situation is frustrating for the field station. – I have spent practically all my time trying to get funding. And after many, many years we have learned that there are many empty words. We still have the benefit of a politician calling us and saying that now we are taking a step forward, says Arnesen Hard priorities The Norwegian Environment Agency tells of a large influx of applications for funds, and that they have to make hard priorities. – Generally speaking, much more funds are requested than what we have at our disposal, says Ann Helen Hellevik in the Directorate of the Environment. This year, the Norwegian Environment Agency has received 62 applications totaling NOK 80 million. The Directorate has 30 million at its disposal. – We must assess the applications based on, among other things, the description of the project, implementation plan and costs, as well as geographical area so that we get a good spread of where money is allocated. Hellevik believes the best solution for continuing the clean-up work is a combination of volunteers and private actors. Both Norwegian and foreign rubbish Back at Mausund Field Station, the clean-up work is still taking place – so far This plastic box is not Norwegian, but has nevertheless found its way to the Norwegian coast due to the Gulf Stream. Fortunately, it has been picked up by the gang at Mausund. Photo: Odd Arne Arnesen It’s not just plastic from Norway that they find along the coast. The Gulf Stream means that foreign waste also ends up along the Norwegian coast. – When we have made measurements, we have been up to 70-80% foreign waste. It is especially for the Norwegian coast, says Arnesen. Peder Hilmarsen has worked as a coastal renovator at the field station for eight years. He says that on average they pick five to six cubic meters of rubbish a day. Photo: Odd Arne Arnesen Published 05.08.2024, at 19.58
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Cleans up rubbish in the sea at Mausund on Frøya in Trøndelag – now they lose support – news Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio
