The impact of tourism on marine litter pollution on Santa Marta beaches, Colombian Caribbean

Garcés-Ordóñez, Ostin; Díaz, Luisa Fernanda Espinosa; Cardoso, Renan Pereira; Muniz, Marcelo Costa

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111558

Cited by 88 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Furthermore, plastic is well recognized as the main marine litter material; however this category is very wide. In the case of Colombia, polystyrene items are quite common [57], and the relevant visual impact that they generate on the perception of beachgoers was confirmed by the survey's respondents. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic increased the use of disposable elements for food-packaging, which had negatively impacted beaches in several countries of Latin America with plenty of polystyrene items [58].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 78%

Qualitative and Quantitative Beach Cleanliness Assessment to Support Marine Litter Management in Tropical Destinations

Botero

Tamayo

Zielinski

et al. 2021

Water

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In addition to its ecological and recreational relevance, beach cleanliness is also one of the five most important aspects (i.e., the “Big Five”) for beach visitors around the world. Nonetheless, few efforts have been carried out to guide the sound management of this rising issue. This paper presents a quantitative and qualitative method to assess the level of beach cleanliness, in order to allow managers to focus their attention on the environmental management of the most frequent and relevant types of litter in tropical areas. In a first step, a survey on users’ perception was applied to 361 beachgoers in eight beaches in Colombia to identify the most relevant types of beach litter and the weighting factors to obtain quantitative calculations. In a second step, the thirteen categories of litter identified were analyzed in relation to beach cleanliness, origin of litter, and environmental impact, to define its individual weighting importance. Some categories were also selected according to particularities of tropical countries, such as the presence of abundant natural vegetation debris and gross polystyrene items, largely transported by rivers in great quantities. In a third step, the method was then tested at eight beaches in the Caribbean coast of Colombia through a period of four months, during which 192 transect samplings were carried out. The qualitative module of the proposed technique, named Beach Litter Assessment Technique—Qualitative and Quantitative (BLAT-QQ), identified the main types of beach litter and the quantitative module gave an overview on the state of beach cleanliness. The method is demonstrated to be quick and effective in diagnosing beach cleanliness, providing a simple instrument to carry out sound environmental management actions in coastal destinations.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 78%

Qualitative and Quantitative Beach Cleanliness Assessment to Support Marine Litter Management in Tropical Destinations

Botero

Tamayo

Zielinski

et al. 2021

Water

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“…Research conducted along the Caribbean coast of Colombia support this. The majority of beaches studied along northern Colombia were classified as 'high' or 'very high' in terms of their microplastic pollution (Rangel-Buitrago et al, 2021), with the greatest accumulations and leakages of plastics linked to river discharge (Rangel-Buitrago et al, 2021), local currents (Rangel-Buitrago et al, 2019), increased tourism and poor waste management (Garces-Ordonez et al, 2020b;Garces-Ordonez et al, 2020a).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is evidenced that plastics detrimentally impact marine life and ecological processes (Bucci et al, 2020;Galloway et al, 2017). In addition plastic pollution can adversely affect economy and society through impacts on food security (Barboza et al, 2018), human wellbeing (Beaumont et al, 2019;Wyles et al, 2016) and coastal economic activity (Rangel-Buitrago et al, 2018;Garces-Ordonez et al, 2020a;Ambrose et al, 2019), and as such plastics have been acknowledged as a pressing global issue (Sutherland et al, 2010;Rockström et al, 2009). The tropics and the islands lying within this region are hotspots of biodiversity both above and below the water (Myers et al, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Source, sea and sink—A holistic approach to understanding plastic pollution in the Southern Caribbean

Courtene‐Jones

Maddalene

James

et al. 2021

Science of The Total Environment

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Marine plastics are considered to be a major threat to the sustainable use of marine and coastal resources of the Caribbean, on which the region relies heavily for tourism and fishing. To date, little work has quantified plastics within the Caribbean marine environment or examined their potential sources. This study aimed to address this by holistically integrating marine (surface water, subsurface water and sediment) and terrestrial sampling and Lagrangian particle tracking to examine the potential origins, flows and quantities of plastics within the Southern Caribbean. Terrestrial litter and the microplastics identified in marine samples may arise from the maritime and tourism industries, both of which are major contributors to the economies of the Caribbean region. The San Blas islands, Panama had the highest abundance of microplastics at a depth of 25 m, and significantly greater quantities in surface water than recorded in the other countries. Modelling indicated the microplastics likely arose from mainland Panama, which has some of the highest levels of mismanaged waste. Antigua had among the lowest quantities of terrestrial and marine plastics, yet the greatest diversity of polymers. Modelling indicated the majority of the microplastics in Antiguan coastal surface were likely to have originated from the wider North Atlantic Ocean. Ocean currents influence the movements of plastics and thus the relative contributions arising from local and distant sources which become distributed within a country's territorial water. These transboundary movements can undermine local or national legislation aimed at reducing plastic pollution. While this study presents

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“…Consequently, these human activities are likely other sources of marine microplastic pollution that increased plastic disposal into the coastal waters. Some evidence showed that tourism and recreational activities are the major sources of marine and coastal plastic accumulation into the marine ecosystems [29][30][31].…”

Section: Microplastics On Coral Habitats With Different Level Of Sedimentation Ratementioning

confidence: 99%

First Evidence of Microplastics Presence in Corals of Jepara Coastal Waters, Java Sea: A Comparison Among Habitats Receiving Different Degrees of Sedimentations

Sabdono¹,

Ayuningrum²,

Sabdaningsih³

2021

Pol. J. Environ. Stud.

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The impact of tourism on marine litter pollution on Santa Marta beaches, Colombian Caribbean

Cited by 88 publications

References 43 publications

Qualitative and Quantitative Beach Cleanliness Assessment to Support Marine Litter Management in Tropical Destinations

Qualitative and Quantitative Beach Cleanliness Assessment to Support Marine Litter Management in Tropical Destinations

Source, sea and sink—A holistic approach to understanding plastic pollution in the Southern Caribbean

First Evidence of Microplastics Presence in Corals of Jepara Coastal Waters, Java Sea: A Comparison Among Habitats Receiving Different Degrees of Sedimentations

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