Thanks to every Libera hero for your clean m2 and all the data collected. 93 points and 30.000 classified objetcs!
LIBERA PROJECT: NATURE WITHOUT LITTER
The project ‘LIBERA, nature without litter‘, was born in 2017 to restrain the consequences of the ‘basuraleza’, that is, litter left on natural spaces, in this case on different Spanish ecosystems. The project was brought to life by the well-known Spanish NGO SEO/Birdlife together with Ecoembes, the non-profit environmental organization that promotes circular economy through recycling.
The goal of this initiative is to raise awareness and mobilize citizenship to keep natural spaces free from litter and, in so doing, to free more of life in favor of biodiversity. To this end, we at LIBERA outline a comprehensive approach to this issue, divided into three broad areas of action: awareness, prevention, and participation.
AWARENESS
To tackle the great problem of litter in our natural areas (which in Spanish we have given the name basuraleza = ‘littered nature’), we need to know more about how much of it there is, its composition, origin, tendencies, areas of accumulation and so on. We will thus be able to identify effective solutions for its prevention. One area of LIBERA is wholly dedicated to raising awareness of this problem. Through this area, we collaborate with NGOs and universities to develop methods and innovative tools, such as citizen science, to increase our knowledge of the various land, sea and river ecosystems. In summary, science is our ally to find the best solutions.
PREVENTION
Knowledge is of no use if the citizenship does not understand the need to keep natural spaces clean. This is why we aim to change habits, inform and educate about caring for and respecting our natural areas. By producing educational and training materials, we inform schools about the necessity of working together to stop the littering problem. At the same time, the development of awareness and sensitization campaigns will help us show the effect that the dumping of waste has on the environment and the role that each of us has in preventing it.
PARTICIPATION
Citizen participation is one of the keys to ending the problem of litter (basuraleza). If there is a way to raise awareness through participation is encouraging people to go outside and clean what nobody should have littered in the first place, that is, to free nature from litter. ‘1m2 for nature‘ is an example of how working together in the countryside for just one day to collect waste–translated into the total of all the square meters we manage to free from the litter– has a great impact on our natural environment.
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GET TO KNOW SOME OF OUR INITIATIVES
Our mission is to contribute to the eradication of litter in natural spaces with different initiatives to raise awareness and inform all citizens, study the litter’s nature and encourage everyone’s participation. With this goal, LIBERA Science analyses the impact of litter in nature and its consequences in the habitat, we give lectures at educative centers and universities about the problem and organize litter removal and environmental care initiatives such as 1m2.
LIBERA SCIENCE
We work at 140 IBAs (Important Bird Areas) identified by SEO/BirdLife representing the 7 most significant ecosystems in Spain to obtain extensive data about basuraleza‘s effect. Collecting samples of water, soil and wildlife’s feces and with the CSIC lab analysis, we are able to get a full view of the substances affecting our natural spaces.
LIBERA CLASSROOM
The educative project ‘Aulas LIBERA’ has the goal to educate students about the real size of the littering problem and encourage them to become the solution. All the students will learn the consequences of leaving litter on the environment and they will be able to contribute by collecting data and waste and suggesting concise solutions.
1M2
’1m2 for nature‘ is LIBERA’s flagship, a large national citizen-based clean-up event we organize each year. Its second edition brought up together 11,000 LIBERA Heroes collecting 80 tons of rubbish in just one day. With it, we aim to make everyone aware of what we could achieve if each of us would take charge of keeping a square meter clean.
Basuraleza
Basuraleza is the name created by LIBERA Project to denominate the litter generated by the human being and left on natural areas, altering the ecosystems and affecting flora and fauna species and polluting the water in rivers, seas, and oceans. Become part of the solution, join LIBERA.