Beach marine litter monitoring: Citizen science data series for coastal monitoring development and governance in latvia

Abstract

The research analyses the five-year results of the beach marine litter monitoring programme in Latvia and looks into its potential and applicability as a tool for environmental policy making and promotion of the sustainable coastal management at municipal level. The monitoring programme, based on UNEP methodology, has been established in the year 2012 by the NGO Foundation for Environmental Education Latvia (FEE Latvia) and operates not only as a litter survey initiative as being only one coastal monitoring in the country and so used for national policy, but also as a platform to raise public awareness on marine and coastal litter issues and promote stakeholder engagement and, particularly, also citizen science approach in coastal science and monitoring. The data series results accumulated and collaboration study done with University of Latvia in 2016, within EU BONUS BaltCoast project, in order to analyse both, practical monitoring steps, as well as also future necessary developments towards not only beach litter monitoring, but more wider multi-thematic beach-coastal monitoring at the local governance level, being missed so far. Results allows to elaborate conclusions on existing limitations of current monitoring framework, possible improvements of the programme and also its potential to provide coastal/marine information in Latvia on the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive of European Union, and to further advise Environmental ministry and, especially, local municipalities in their coastal waste management practices.