Program

Oceans & coasts

Proposed program

Coasts receive what rivers carry and what ocean currents bring. Understanding both is the first step toward cleaner shores.

Purpose

Beaches and coastal waters are where land and sea meet, and they show the effects of both. Our coastal program aims to support local groups who survey, clean and protect their shores, and to put prevention first.

The program is a proposal. Our initial coastal interest is the islands of São Vicente and Santa Luzia in Cabo Verde.

Environmental challenges

  • Litter from land and sea

    Coastal litter comes from nearby towns, from rivers and from ocean currents that carry waste across long distances.

  • What happens after cleanup

    Collected waste still needs somewhere to go, especially on small islands with limited facilities.

  • Pressure on habitats

    Nesting beaches, seabird colonies and other coastal habitats can be harmed by debris and disturbance.

  • Prevention

    Cleanups ease a problem temporarily. Lasting change means reducing the waste that reaches the sea in the first place.

Marine habitat support would follow local conservation priorities, guided by the people who know the coast.

Proposed activities

All activities are proposals. None has started.

  1. Coastal debris surveys that record what washes ashore.
  2. Beach cleanups with local groups and clear plans for waste.
  3. Marine habitat support that follows local conservation priorities.
  4. Prevention of litter entering the sea, from drains to rivers to shorelines.
  5. Practical monitoring and equipment support for local teams.

Clean-water access

Cleanup and habitat restoration do not make water safe to drink. If we take part in safe-water work, it would be as a separate program, supporting qualified local teams with appropriately scoped monitoring, equipment, maintenance and access projects.

Proposed focus area

Odaw River

Accra, Ghana

A city river linking Accra's streets to the sea, where plastic travels from drains to the shore.

Proposed focus area

São Vicente coast

São Vicente, Cabo Verde

An inhabited island in the open Atlantic, where beaches face litter carried by ocean currents.

Proposed focus area

Santa Luzia coast

Santa Luzia, Cabo Verde

An uninhabited island and nature reserve where litter arrives from far across the ocean.

Organizations to explore

Listings are informational and do not imply a partnership with Flow for Tomorrow.

Organization to exploreWorks on this waterway

River Cleanup, Ghana program

Ghana

An international organization whose Ghana program focuses on plastic pollution in the Odaw River, combining awareness, cleanup events and prevention measures. It is not a locally founded NGO.

Related focus area: Odaw River

Official website of River Cleanup, Ghana program (external site)

Listing checked October 2026. Informational only. Not a partner of Flow for Tomorrow.

Organization to exploreWorks in a related habitat

Biosfera

Cabo Verde

A Cabo Verde conservation organization based in Mindelo, São Vicente. Its work spans marine turtles, seabirds and coastal habitats, and includes beach cleanups on São Vicente and Santa Luzia alongside education and recycling.

Related focus area: São Vicente coast, Santa Luzia coast

Official website of Biosfera (external site)

Listing checked October 2026. Informational only. Not a partner of Flow for Tomorrow.

Illustrative photography of this kind of place.

  • A plastic bottle lying in dried seaweed on pale sand as waves wash in.
    A bottle among washed-up seaweed Illustrative stock media. Not a Flow for Tomorrow project.
  • A heap of tangled rope and netting on a sandy beach, with surf and a headland behind.
    Tangled rope and netting on a shoreline Illustrative stock media. Not a Flow for Tomorrow project.
  • Seagulls on a beach around a discarded snack bag, with one gull flying overhead.
    Seabirds around a discarded wrapper Illustrative stock media. Not a Flow for Tomorrow project.
  • A tall heap of fabric, netting and plastic waste on a tidal beach under a blue sky.
    Waste heaped on a tidal beach Illustrative stock media. Not a Flow for Tomorrow project.
  • A hand-painted driftwood sign reading Please keep clean the ocean, beside an assemblage of washed-up objects standing in shallow water.
    A hand-painted sign about keeping the ocean clean Illustrative stock media. Not a Flow for Tomorrow project.
  • A crushed can lying on wet sand at dusk beneath heavy clouds, with litter floating in the surf.
    A crushed can on a shore at dusk Illustrative stock media. Not a Flow for Tomorrow project.

Collected waste still needs somewhere to go. Planning for that comes first.

  • Two waste bins on a sandy beach with waves breaking behind them.
    Waste bins on a beach Illustrative stock media. Not a Flow for Tomorrow project.
  • A green waste bin on a post on a grassy headland above a gray bay.
    A waste bin on a headland above a bay Illustrative stock media. Not a Flow for Tomorrow project.
  • Four bright green waste bins standing in a row on an open beach beneath a deep blue sky.
    A row of waste bins on an open beach Illustrative stock media. Not a Flow for Tomorrow project.

Share what you know.

If you work on oceans & coasts or the communities beside them, we would like to hear from you.

Connect with us