After two days of sailing from Dakar and a brief stopover only on land in Guinea, the crew sees the first island of Cape Verde emerge on the horizon: Boa Vista. After one more day of sailing to explore the archipelago, the vessel docked at Mindelo, at the port of Sao Vicente. This stopover is an opportunity for Plastic Odyssey to explore a new field of work and research: the plastic pollution issues facing island areas.
Cape Verde has around 500,000 inhabitants spread over 10 islands. The distance between each of them, the resources they have, and the dynamics of local policies create significant complexity for the management of waste. However, each island faces similar issues: importing more than 90% of goods, lack of raw materials (such as sand, wood, and water), coastal erosion, and numerous ongoing or upcoming construction projects due to the increasing tourism. Meanwhile, the Cape Verdeans have a strong desire to protect their natural spaces, both marine and terrestrial.
We welcomed Abel, a Senegalese student in electro-mechanics, to work on the machines of the onboard workshop during the two weeks of our stopover in Cape Verde....
Cape Verde is full of artisans with magic fingers. They braid or knit banana, sisal, palm leaves and make an incredible variety of objects without ever resorting to plastic....
Rocky and seemingly hostile, the island of Santa Luzia is actually a paradise of biodiversity. Although no humans have ever lived there, loggerhead turtles come every year to lay their eggs, and over ...
Another approach for this smaller-scale stopover would be to focus on setting up a local circular economy for managing plastic waste:
Workshops organized
5 workshops per industry sector to study the recovery of their resources or the use of new products (Retail, Hospitality & Tourism, Construction, Maritime sector, Public & Institutional sector).
Exhibition visitors
700 exhibition visitors for “The Treasure Chests” at the cultural center of Mindelo: a first in terms of attendance!
Explorers on a deserted island
25 disembarked explorers on the deserted island of Santa Luzia to assess the extent of damage caused by plastic pollution in the sea on this crucial ecosystem for the reproduction of sea turtles.
Access to resources and high demand for construction materials present many opportunities for plastic recycling. The entrepreneurs, institutions, industries and associations welcomed on board during the OnBoard Laboratory showed a lot of optimism about the development of the sector and a real willingness to act together.
Regarding reduction, we were able to meet particularly inspiring initiative holders, manipulating weaving and crochet systems with virtuosity. These discoveries can now enrich the exhibition trunks, which were a great success during these 2 weeks at the cultural center of Mindelo.
The final step of the stopover before changing continent is to go to the deserted island of Santa Luzia where turtles come to lay their eggs. Uninhabited yet filled with waste from the sea, the need to preserve it is all the greater. Alongside the Biosfera association and SCE company, we went to document and collect the waste on the windward side of the island. A special experience that encourages us to persevere in the protection of the biodiversity of the archipelago and the beauty of its marine ecosystems.
Discover the second episode of the web series produced in partnership with Les Éclaireurs.
Director: Valentin Proult
Reportage, RTC – Rádio Televisão Cabo-verdiana
Plastic Odyssey, an ambassador vessel for the fight against plastic pollution in the oceans, sails around the world to discover, reference, and share concrete solutions. A three-year expedition across three continents in countries most affected by plastic pollution.
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