It is home to the last remaining population of Indian Ocean giant tortoises 17 ( Aldabrachelys gigantea) and provides one of the largest nesting sites for endangered green turtles ( Chelonia mydas) 18 in the western Indian Ocean. Aldabra is an iconic site, both within Seychelles and globally heavily protected, it acts as an important benchmark for the impacts of global environmental change. One of the largest and most remote marine protected areas within Seychelles is Aldabra Atoll, among the largest raised coral atolls in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Republic of Seychelles is one such nation: a small island state, with 155 islands stretching over 1.4 million km 2 of the Southwest Indian Ocean and home to only 98,000 people 16. While source interventions are being discussed and slowly implemented 8, the down-stream accumulation is taking its toll at both local and national level and cannot be ignored, especially in light of the accumulating evidence of the detrimental effects of plastic, microplastics and plastic leachate on species and ecosystems 9– 15. Although these numbers provide an overview of the global problem, they do not reveal the full environmental and financial impact on countries that unwillingly import this waste, which arrives on their shores every day. This figure is likely to remain high for the foreseeable future, despite global efforts to reduce single-use plastics 3– 7. Approximately 6,300 million metric tonnes of plastic waste has now been generated worldwide, and because collection and recycling facilities are unavailable or inadequate in most countries, up to 12.7 million tonnes is estimated to enter the oceans annually 2. In the last decade the world has woken up to the extent and impact of plastic pollution in the oceans 1. We recommend that international funding be made available for such efforts, especially considering the transboundary nature of both the marine plastic litter problem and the ecosystem services provided by biodiversity-rich islands. ![]() Given the serious detrimental effects of plastic litter on marine ecosystems, we conclude that clean-up efforts are a vital management action for islands like Aldabra, despite the high financial cost and should be integrated alongside policies directed at ‘turning off the tap’. By weight, the composition is dominated by litter from the regional fishing industry (83%) and flip-flops from further afield (7%). ![]() We calculate that removing it will cost approximately $4.68 million and require 18,000 person-hours of labour. We estimate that 513 tonnes (95% CI 212–814) remains on Aldabra, the largest accumulation reported for any single island. ![]() We removed 25 tonnes at a cost of $224,537, which equates to around $10,000 per day of clean-up operations or $8,900 per tonne of litter. In March 2019, we removed as much plastic litter as possible from Aldabra Atoll, a remote UNESCO World Heritage Site, and estimated the money and effort required to remove the remaining debris. Small island states receive unprecedented amounts of the world’s plastic waste.
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