Conservation of Marine Biodiversity from Plastic Pollution for the Health and Well-Being of Society: a Maqasidic Approach

Abstract

Conservation of marine biodiversity is crucial in sustaining a healthy marine environment for the benefit of all living things, especially human beings. Current mass production technologies have caused the oceans to be inundated by the mass dumping of wastes, particularly of plastics and its derivatives, which have in many ways poisoned and became toxic to the health of marine life and its biodiversity. The importance of conserving marine life has been mentioned many times in the Qur’an and is in line with the Maqasid al-Shari‘ah principles i.e., ‘protect the life and wealth’, because without a clean environment, humans lose the essence of life. Therefore, this paper discusses the impact of technological advances, particularly on the production of plastics and its derivatives on marine biodiversity, and their implications on community health. In addition, the paper aims to identify ways to tackle such problems from the Islamic and marine sciences perspectives.