On Friday, July 17, 2026, the Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA) PROMAR Team, implementing the Prevention of Marine Litter in the Caribbean Sea (PROMAR) Project, collaborated with the Caribbean Network for Integrated Rural Development (CNIRD), the National Coordinator for the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) in Trinidad and Tobago, to conduct a coastal cleanup with an underwater component at Scotland Bay, Trinidad. The initiative brought together over 75 dedicated volunteers from CNIRD, the Ministry of Planning, Economic Affairs and Development, the PROMAR-IMA Team, the Trinidad and Tobago Eco-Divers Club, Trinidad and Tobago Youth Ambassadors, and the Queen's Royal College Sea Scouts, to remove marine litter while strengthening national capacity for coastal conservation and environmental stewardship.

 

The cleanup served both as a hands-on beach restoration exercise and a specialized Site Captain Training Session, part of PROMAR's broader efforts to build local leadership around marine litter prevention. The training equipped participants with the knowledge and skills needed to coordinate future cleanup activities, collect reliable marine litter data, and support larger-scale environmental restoration efforts across Trinidad and Tobago.

 

To ensure efficient operations and accurate data collection, volunteers were organized into groups of four, with three team members assisting with the collection and sorting of marine debris, and the fourth recording each item using the Ocean Conservancy International Coastal Cleanup Trash Data Form. All debris was systematically collected, sorted into categories, and weighed, generating valuable data on the composition and sources of marine litter along Trinidad's coastline.

 

In total, the cleanup resulted in the collection of 70 bags of garbage, weighing 432.7 kg. Plastics accounted for the largest share of waste collected, followed by bottles, aluminum cans, and other recyclable materials. These findings underscore the continued prevalence of plastic pollution in Trinidad and Tobago's marine environment and reinforce the urgent need for sustainable waste management practices and greater public awareness to help reduce the amount of litter entering coastal and marine ecosystems.

 

The Scotland Bay coastal cleanup demonstrated the value of combining environmental action with scientific data collection and capacity building. Through strong partnerships and active community participation, the initiative advanced PROMAR's mission to prevent marine litter by strengthening local leadership, promoting responsible environmental stewardship, and encouraging collective action to safeguard Trinidad and Tobago's marine and coastal ecosystems.

 

Events like the Scotland Bay cleanup highlight the critical role that community-driven conservation, accurate marine litter data collection, and cross-sector collaboration play in tackling plastic pollution across the Caribbean, supporting PROMAR's ongoing mission to build cleaner, more resilient coastlines throughout the region.