(1 Oct 2016) LEAD IN
Discarded plastic is a growing problem posing a threat to wildlife around the Black Sea coast.
Volunteers were recently drafted in to collect the waste while raising awareness of what harm can be done by the plastic often found buried in the sand.

STORY-LINE:
The natural beauty of the Black Sea.
"Biloberezhya Svyatoslava" is designated a national nature park, but this haven for wildlife is marred by plastic pollution.
A group of volunteers and scientists recenty travelled to the Ukrainian shores of the Black Sea to help tackle the problem, as part of a project organised by the United Nations Development Program.
The clean beach program of UNDP aims to raise awareness of the dangers of tiny pieces of plastic on marine life which consume it.
Vladimir Mamayev is the regional technical adviser for UNDP.
"This is one of the most dangerous things - plastic in the sea. Now it a global program of action to support of the United Nations environmental program to deal with this. The plastic can live up to 100 more years in the water. All the animals and all the species living in the marine sea are suffering differently, but they are all suffering. So it is very important for the human population first of all to change the habits. We need to get rid of the plastic, we should not bring the plastic into the nature at all. Collecting is very important, is very good. But not polluting, is most important."
The team scour the beaches collecting discarded plastic bottles, fragments of fishing nets and other waste.
Over several hours they gathered 25 kilograms of different sorts of plastic and non-organic garbage.
Dr. Boris Oleksandrov is the Director of the Institute of Marine Biology of the Ukraine's National Scientists Academy.
"The waste could be of different types. The most dangerous is the unseen waste, that which we cannot see. There is a very important problem of the small waste which could kill huge populations of fishes. Developing a program for the waste pollution we are discovering every day how this waste is dangerous for marine life. "
Another group of volunteers and scientists inspected seashells, which are considered to be good indicators to the biological health of the beach.
The region is an important migratory path for millions of birds making their way south for the winter.
White Pelicans are often spotted here and White-tailed Eagles spend the winter here.
The migrating birds need to eat enough before flying over the Black Sea for their next stop in Turkey.
To replish the fish population 3000 carps were released into the Dnipro-Bug estuary.
Yuriy Kozunovski is director for the national reservation "Biloberezhya Svyatoslava":
"Most of the natural breeding grounds are destroyed in the Dnipro-Bugsky lagoon (delta of Dnipro river and Bug river), that's why breeding stock production decreased. Also a number of pelicans and other birds which are feeding on the fish increased. The pressure on natural fish reserves also rises, but from another side we need to support bird populations that are on the Red list (IUCN) : pelicans and others. Breeding fishes will help to increase the fish population and provide food for such rare birds on our territory."
The team hope that when the birds embark on their return journey next spring there will be plenty of fish for them to feast on.
This recent event was held as part of International Black Sea Clean Beach Days, which took place in various Black Sea countries in September 2016 within the framework of the project "Improving Environmental Monitoring in the Black Sea" (EMBLAS).


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