Addressing data gaps in marine litter distribution: Citizen science observation of plastics in coastal ecosystems by high-school students

Abstract

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.

Impact of the citizen science project COLLECT on ocean literacy and well-being within a north/west African and south-east Asian context

“…This means that students did not directly perceive litter at the beach, thereby potentially reducing the perception of the salience of marine litter on the coastline and creating disinterest towards the aims of the project, similar to findings from Oturai et al (2022) . This is in line with the fact that students in Benin collected the most macroplastics compared to other countries ( Catarino et al, 2022 ), and therefore perceived a strong presence of plastics on the coast, which can partly explain the positive outcomes of the project previously mentioned.…”

“…This however also led to several methodological limitations that should be considered. First, although the implementation of the project was standardized as much as possible ( Catarino et al, 2023 ), there are notable differences between the countries. One difference is in regards to the time period between the pre- and post-surveys (i.e., 1 month for Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, and Malaysia; 5/6 months for Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, and Morocco).…”

“…The science teacher selected which classes of students would participate, with no prior knowledge of the content of the surveys and their aim. Parents of the participating students then received an information letter ( Catarino et al, 2023 ). The headteacher and the parents of all underage students were requested to give their informed consent for the student to participate in COLLECT and to take part in the surveys.…”

“…In each country, the project was undertaken by local researchers who were affiliated within member institutions of the POGO. More detailed information regarding the full methodology of the project can be found in Catarino et al (2023) .…”

Applying Digital Technology to Understand Human Experiences of Climate Change Impacts on Food Security and Mental Health: Scoping Review

“…Citizen science has a longstanding history of citizen engagement to capture local environmental impacts. It has proven to be particularly useful in tracking biodiversity loss [54,55], monitoring marine litter [56,57], and measuring air pollution levels across jurisdictions [58,59] for a deeper understanding of our ecological landscape.…”