Pacific Tourism Organisation Participates In IUCN Oceania Plastic Waste-Free Consultations

The Pacific Tourism Organisation was among 20 other participants from government, private sector, Civil Society Organisations, regional organisations and partners at the recent IUCN Oceania validation workshop meeting in Suva.

The one-day validation workshop met on the proposed policy recommendations for plastic leakage reduction in Fiji targeting three sectors: Waste Management, Tourism, and Fisheries. An additional objective was to validate the results from the stakeholder consultations on the proposed policy recommendations for the three sectors in Fiji. This included a presentation of the findings gathered from the waste audits and consolidation of recommendations from the quantification, policy analysis, and economic assessments.

The Validation workshop is the final stage of the Plastic Waste Free Islands (PWFI) project that is focused on addressing the plastic waste leakage from island states.

The workshop objectives and discussions are in line with the SPTO’s Pacific Sustainable Tourism Policy Framework (PSTPF) which recognises the threat that the plastic waste problem poses in maintaining Healthy Islands and Oceans in Pacific destinations. The Framework recognises that waste management and pollution control remains one of the pressing environmental issues facing the Pacific region. Importantly, the PSTPF calls for urgent action from tourism stakeholders in tackling the plastic pollution in the Pacific through collaboration, commitment and awareness towards a circular economy and resource-efficient sector.