From June 15 to September 15, the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection, chaired by Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa, will run the fourth edition of Operation #b7arblaplastic.

This ocean pollution awareness campaign ties into the 24th season of the Foundation’s flagship Clean Beaches program, which includes this year 109 beaches, 27 of which carry the Blue Flag label.  These beaches will receive support from the Foundation, the General Directorate of Local Authorities, and for 67 among them, from 26 corporate partners providing additional material and human resources, to ensure a clean, well-equipped, safe, and vibrant environment for summer visitors.

Operation #b7arblaplastic continues to be a foundation flagship initiative, having scaled up its challenges for 2023:  Cut plastic waste by a minimum of 10 tonnes per beach, run at least 40,000 environmental awareness campaigns, raise the awareness of two million young people, and recycle all plastic waste collected.

The Foundation held a workshop on May 18, bringing together corporate partners and coastal municipalities to jointly draw up the project roadmap, coordinate actions and mobilize all stakeholders contributing to the operation’s success.

Awareness-raising activities will be arranged for Eco-School students, Young Reporters for the Environment and their mentors, in partnership with the Ministry of National Education, Preschool and Sports.  These activities will be coordinated with some 20 professional diving associations, who will conduct seabed clean-up operations at 24 beaches, providing a platform for awareness-raising and recycling workshops, as well as exhibitions of recycled nets.

Operation #b7arblaplastic will also raise awareness among Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication summer camp children, and mobilize Morocco’s National Scout Federation.  Last but not least, libraries will be set up on a number of beaches.

To best reach young people, a primary target, #b7arblaplastic will massively leverage digital channels, including social networks (Facebook and Instagram) as well as its Anaboundif app.

In addition to #b7arblaplastic, the Clean Beaches program’s leading awareness-raising operation, the Foundation, local authorities, corporate partners and relevant government bodies will continue to work, as they have over the past 24 years, to enable Moroccans to enjoy the sea and ocean in clean, equipped, supervised, safe and vibrant spaces.

The Foundation has stepped up awareness-raising activities, primarily aimed at young people, since the start of the year.  Working through its academic arm, the Hassan II International Center for Environmental Training, it has raised the awareness of Eco-Schoolers and Young Reporters for the Environment during World Environment Day (June 5), World Oceans Day (June 8) and the International Book and Publishing Fair. It also raised the awareness of broader target audiences, holding three international conferences in early June (Solutions for Plastic Pollution, Mediterranean Plastic Tides, African Roadmap for the Oceans Decade).

Beaches and corporate partners will join forces with #b7arblaplastic to eliminate plastic pollution from beaches, a pressing global problem. Plastic pollution has become so prevalent that 157 countries, in a unique development, are now working to enact a legally binding international treaty by 2024.