At the end of October a reporter for a daily newspaper in South Korea visited Arran to learn about the marine conservation efforts happening here, with the aim of taking back ideas to implement back on her island – Jeju Island. Jeju island, a UNESCO geological park, is the most popular tourist destination in South Korea welcoming 10 million tourists every year. However with this comes a problem. The problem of plastic and other waste which then ends up in the sea.
Aeri Lee, from Jejumaeil Daily, had heard about Arran being designated as a plastic-free community and decided to visit to find out more. She met with Think About Plastic – Arran chairwoman, Helen How, to find out more about how the island achieved this status and how the group and others are working to reduce the plastic in the seas around us.
Following this, Aeri and her photographer visited COAST’s Octopus Centre to discover the wider conservation efforts going on in the community to protect our waters. Aeri left inspired and has written a lovely piece in her local paper back home, which can be read here. We wish her all the best in her ambition to improve the conservation and environmental efforts in her home country.
