Addressing data gaps in marine litter distribution: Citizen science observation of plastics in coastal ecosystems by high-school students
Frontiers in Marine Science2023
23 citations
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Ana I. Catarino,
Gert Everaert,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Gert Everaert,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Gert Everaert,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Gert Everaert,
Gert Everaert,
Gert Everaert,
Ana I. Catarino,
Gert Everaert,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Jan Mees,
Jan Mees,
Mostapha Benomar,
Mostapha Benomar,
Edem Mahu,
Edem Mahu,
Edem Mahu,
Gert Everaert,
Ana I. Catarino,
Edem Mahu,
Edem Mahu,
Mostapha Benomar,
Mostapha Benomar,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Lilian Anne Krug,
Gert Everaert,
Edem Mahu,
Gert Everaert,
Mostapha Benomar,
Mostapha Benomar,
Jan Mees,
Edem Mahu,
Edem Mahu,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Jan Mees,
Marine I. Severin,
Marine I. Severin,
Jan Mees,
Jan Mees,
Mostapha Benomar,
Gert Everaert,
Mostapha Benomar,
Gert Everaert,
Gert Everaert,
Ana I. Catarino,
Ana I. Catarino,
Aileen Tan Shau Hwai,
Gert Everaert,
Gert Everaert,
Gert Everaert,
Gert Everaert,
Gert Everaert,
Lilian Anne Krug,
Lazare Kouame Akpetou,
Jan Mees,
Jan Mees,
Gert Everaert,
Aileen Tan Shau Hwai,
Gert Everaert,
Jan Mees,
Gert Everaert,
Pavanee Annasawmy,
Gert Everaert,
Gert Everaert,
Edem Mahu,
Jan Mees,
Gert Everaert,
Gert Everaert,
Gert Everaert,
Aileen Tan Shau Hwai,
Ana I. Catarino,
Gert Everaert,
Gert Everaert,
Jan Mees,
Jan Mees,
Francis E. Asuquo,
Francis E. Asuquo,
Fiona Beckman,
Zacharie Sohou,
Gert Everaert,
Jan Mees,
Gert Everaert,
Gert Everaert,
Fiona Beckman,
Sophie Seeyave
Ana I. Catarino,
Gert Everaert,
Gert Everaert,
Gert Everaert,
Fiona Beckman,
Ana I. Catarino,
Gert Everaert,
Gert Everaert,
Gert Everaert,
Gert Everaert,
Gert Everaert,
Mostapha Benomar,
Mostapha Benomar,
Gert Everaert,
Gert Everaert,
Ana I. Catarino,
Mostapha Benomar,
Mostapha Benomar,
Gert Everaert,
Gert Everaert,
Ana I. Catarino,
Edem Mahu,
Gert Everaert,
Gert Everaert,
Gert Everaert,
Annette Jaya-Ram,
Annette Jaya-Ram,
Gert Everaert,
Aileen Tan Shau Hwai,
Ana I. Catarino,
Gert Everaert,
Ana I. Catarino,
Olubunmi Ayoola Nubi,
Mohammed Malouli,
Aileen Tan Shau Hwai,
Mohammed Malouli,
Gert Everaert,
Ivanice Monteiro,
Jan Mees,
Ivanice Monteiro,
Gert Everaert,
Ivanice Monteiro,
Ivanice Monteiro,
Joey Ndwiga,
Joey Ndwiga,
Zacharie Sohou,
Péricles Neves Silva,
Péricles Neves Silva,
Olubunmi Ayoola Nubi,
Patricia Martin-Cabrera,
Jan Mees,
Ana I. Catarino,
Yee Kwang Sim,
Yee Kwang Sim,
Zacharie Sohou,
Gert Everaert,
Sau Pinn Woo,
Soukaina Zizah,
Lilian Anne Krug,
Soukaina Zizah,
Gert Everaert,
Sophie Seeyave
Aileen Tan Shau Hwai,
Lilian Anne Krug,
Sophie Seeyave
Summary
The COLLECT citizen science project (2021-2022) trained high school students in seven African and Asian countries to sample and analyze macro-, meso-, and microplastics on beaches, generating open-access baseline data on coastal plastic pollution in regions with previously limited monitoring coverage.
Study Type
Environmental
The Citizen Observation of Local Litter in coastal ECosysTems (COLLECT) project (2021-2022) is a citizen science initiative, supported by the Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean (POGO), which aimed to acquire distribution and abundance data of coastal plastic litter in seven countries: in Africa (Benin, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria) and Asia (Malaysia). In this paper, we describe the workflow used to establish and run this project, as well as the methodologies to acquire data. The COLLECT project consisted of training local students (15 - 18 years old) from ten second cycle institutions (“high schools”) on sampling and analyzing macro-, meso- and microplastics in beach sediments, using a quantitative assessment protocol. We further describe in detail the methodologies applied in assessing the impact of participating in the activities from a social sciences perspective. All documents and materials resulting from this project will be open access and available according to the FAIR Principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable). The results and outcomes from COLLECT will contribute to expanding knowledge and establishing baseline information on coastal plastic pollution, with citizen science being an enabler of open science, allowing data to be freely available to the public, academics and policymakers. Expected results from the use of the COLLECT protocol globally will further contribute to the identification of hotspots of coastal plastic litter, and bring awareness to local communities on the potential consequences of plastic pollution. The COLLECT project actively contributes with data suitable to survey plastic litter to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), in particular to SDG 14, on the sustainable use of the ocean.