Nine thousand kilos of discarded fishing nets collected from beaches along the Danajon Bank, Philippines, have been collected and will be recycled into carpet tiles, as part of the Net-Works project.
This year-long pilot between conservationists at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), global carpet tile manufacturer Interface, Inc, together with local partners that include Project Seahorse Foundation (PSF), is a new approach to saving our seas by keeping discarded nets out of them.
The project has so far involved 892 local fishers and their families combing nearby beaches to collect fishing nets, which they then exchange for payment at local community banks created for the project. For every two and a half kilos of nets collected, villagers receive enough money to buy a kilo of rice, and the community banks provide basic financial support so families can save extra money to improve their financial security.
The recycled nets will be incorporated into Interface’s brand new carpet tile collection called Net EffectTM.
ZSL’s Head of Global Conservation Programmes, Dr Heather Koldewey says: “Abandoned or lost fishing nets are a growing problem responsible for causing enormous damage to wildlife and delicate coral reefs. The success of Net-Works means we’ve cleaned up a major source of pollution on the coastline and enabled local communities to make an income directly from their conservation activities. This is a rather unusual but exciting collaboration between conservation and industry.”
The group aims to roll Net-Works out to neighbouring areas, with the ultimate goal of creating self-sufficient projects around the world.
