NGO Green Strandzha from Bulgaria, one of the MARLENA project beneficiaries, organized on 26 June 2019 another cleaning of hard-to-reach places on the route from Ahtopol to the mouth of the Veleka river. This is the second clean-up campaign organized this year within the project MARLENA: Marine and River Litter Elimination New Approach (BSB139).

Personally, the Mayor of Ahtopol, Mr Stanislav Dimitrov, gave the start of the campaign for cleaning of hard-to-reach places on a route from Ahtopol to the mouth of Veleka river.  More than 20 volunteers took part in the action and they managed to collect and load around 700kg of waste for the landfill. The youngest participant, Martina, who is not yet 6 years old, is already very aware of the seriousness of the problem with waste. A bigger problem is the waste that remains hidden in the water and turns into part of it, becoming the so-called „plastic soup”. These fine particles are swallowed by fish and can then fall into the bodies of humans.

The project aims to provide more information and publicity about the problems with waste at sea and rivers; the consequences of these problems, and ways to deal with everyday pollution around us. The target audience of the project is young people, tourists, business, local communities and authorities, educational organizations. Particular attention is paid to the development of responsible civil and environmental behaviour among young people.

The eco-organizations and young people are also targeted at the platform http://www.marlenablacksea.eu, which enables every citizen who has detected pollution to signal for it and attract volunteers to clean up the site.