More than 30,000 people mobilized in 2022 to face the problem of basaraleza (abandonment of garbage in nature) in activities promoted by the Libera project, according to the Annual Report of this environmental defense initiative led by SEO/BirdLife. in alliance with Ecoembes.
The participation registered in 2022 marks a new record in this proposal that was launched in 2017 with the aim of raising awareness and mobilizing society about the amount of waste that is generated and the impact it has if it is abandoned in nature.
The Annual Report of the Libera project has been presented this Wednesday, February 15, at an event held in Madrid in which experts and representatives of participating entities have highlighted the progress in the fight against garbage.
Taking into account the data from 2017, the Libera project has managed to consolidate a network that already consists of 130,000 volunteers and 2,200 entities (274 incorporated in the last year) between organizations, companies, public administrations, scientific entities or local groups that have been adding to this movement to fight against garbage and its environmental impact.
One of Libera’s milestones is having woven a network of collaborating entities, where one of the fundamental pillars is public administrations. In 2022, 81 new municipalities from all over Spain have joined the program
Libera has also acted in six Hydrographic Confederations (Cantabrian, Duero, Ebro, Tagus, Segura and Guadiana) and 297 natural spaces (seven of them National Parks: Garajonay, Guadarrama, Monfragüe, Picos de Europa, Cabrera, Teide and Atlantic Islands), collaborating with the organizations in charge of their management and with the autonomous communities that host them, to make their visitors aware of the problem of garbage and the importance of prevention, and providing materials, tools and training to the professionals who work in them.
In addition, Libera has a network of research, educational, social or sports entities, the Libera Alliances, which channel their work through different joint projects such as the fight against abandonment and removal of 40 m3 of ghost nets (ghost fads) from Alnitak in collaboration with the Fundación Reina Sofía, the marine watchdog network of the Oceánidas organization, whose divers removed 17 tons of garbage from the Spanish coast, sampling and analysis of microplastics in 30 rivers thanks to the work of scientists from the Hombre entity and Territory or the removal of 4.6 tons of large waste from the Posidonia meadows of the Mediterranean through the alliance with Submon.
The prevention of the abandonment of waste in nature through environmental education is also key and the Libera network reaches the educational community through the Aulas Libera program, which aims to promote the fight against garbage and create a commitment to natural environments among students.
During the 2021/2022 academic year alone, more than 600 new classrooms from all over Spain have signed up for the initiative, thus allowing more than 8,000 new students to learn about the problem of abandoned waste that surrounds them and seek solutions through gamification and actions. didactics on the nearest natural terrain.
Among the components of this great network, the 129 private companies that have participated in the movement promoted by Libera in 2022 also stand out. With these, there are already 250 companies from all productive sectors that have joined one of the collection campaigns and fostered awareness of this environmental problem among its employees since 2017.
Thanks to the commitment and work of all those who are part of the Libera network, in 2022 it was possible to collect and classify nearly 120 tons of garbage in more than 1,700 natural points throughout Spain, both in the great collection ‘1m2 against garbage ‘ which, like every year, took place in June, as in one of the ‘1m2’ citizen science campaigns for the different environments (fluvial, marine and terrestrial) that Libera organizes throughout the year.
These campaigns made it possible to characterize more than 211,000 pieces of waste abandoned in nature, among which, for yet another year, cigarette butts stand out as the waste most found in natural environments (representing more than 14% of all garbage), followed by drink cans, plastic pieces of less than 2.5 cm or wet wipes, among others.
This information has been able to be collected thanks to the technology of apps such as e-Litter, Marnoba or the Basuraleza App, and it is essential to identify the most abundant types of litter in each environment and launch adapted solutions and awareness campaigns. In addition, all the data collected is available in the ‘Barometer of Garbage’ and has been integrated into the database of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (Miteco), thus helping to generate greater knowledge. about garbage in Spain.
“From the Libera Project we are clear that the fight against garbage can not focus only on eliminating the waste that we generate and abandon in the field, but rather that we need to move towards a change in the production and consumption model that is more respectful of natural resources. In 2017, we started with a slogan that I want to remember today because it expresses very well what we have always wanted `You have to change the ‘don’t take it, it’s rubbish’ to don’t throw it away, it’s rubbish”, says Asunción Ruiz, executive director of SEO/BirdLife.
“Libera has managed to put the garbage problem where it belongs and we are very proud of the social response received in these years and of this great network that has not stopped growing. But we know that there is still much to do. Each hand, each conscience, each illusion that joins us makes us stronger and, for this reason, we want to continue adding more administrations, more companies, more organizations. Because from each kitchen, each place of purchase, each company, classroom or laboratory, we can be protagonists of change and be part of this great movement to defeat the garbage that is Libera”, adds Rosa Trigo, CEO of Ecoembes.
