Virginia Marine Debris Reduction Plan: working on solutions

The Virginia Marine Debris Reduction Plan was developed in 2014, and updated in 2020 and 2021 through a participatory and collaborative process involving marine debris stakeholders in Virginia including representatives from state and local governments, nonprofit organizations, academia, industry and private business partners, regional bodies, natural resource managers, indigenous groups, and others. We obtained input from stakeholders through surveys, interviews, marine debris summits, and multiple online meetings. Funding was provided by the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program through Grants funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office of Coastal Management, under the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended. Additional support was provided in part by a grant from the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation in partnership with the NOAA Marine Debris Program.

The updated Virginia Marine Debris Reduction Plan (VMDRP) for 2021-2025 is a roadmap, planning and monitoring tool, and a common framework for collaboration that will lead us to cleaner and healthier coastal waters and oceans.

Plastic pollution and marine debris are of local, regional, national, and global concern, so the Virginia Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Program took a leadership role in creating the first VMDRP in 2014–making Virginia the first state on the east coast to have a Plan in place to reduce marine debris and only the second in the US. The 2021-2025 Plan further strategically addresses this problem through policies, laws, research, behavior-change, and action on all levels. It establishes a comprehensive framework for strategic action and identifies priorities to reduce the impacts of marine debris on Virginia’s coasts, people, and wildlife. The 2026-2030 Plan will be created in 2025. To be engaged in the process, send an email to cleanups@cleanvirginiawaterways.org