4.6 Article

Empowering Local Practitioners to Collect and Report on Anthropogenic Riverine and Marine Debris Using Inexpensive Methods in India

期刊

SUSTAINABILITY
卷 14, 期 3, 页码 -

出版社

MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/su14031928

关键词

plastic; freshwater; marine; citizen science; India; policy; litter

资金

  1. Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Awards program [8379-IN]
  2. National Geographic Society [NGS-55326E-19]

向作者/读者索取更多资源

This article provides an overview of the literature on marine debris in India and introduces a replicable and inexpensive collection method. The authors share baseline data from ten cleanups using this method, which reveal that plastic is the most frequently found material. The study also ranks the cleanliness of different collection sites using the Clean Coast Index. However, the replication of the method among practitioners in other regions of India falls below target.
This article includes a review of the literature on marine debris in an Indian context and introduces a replicable, scientific, and inexpensive collection method to build capacity and inform policymakers. We share baseline data resulting from ten cleanups using these methods in India. This method was introduced in a 2019 workshop to train Indian researchers, leading to local-led collections in three states and two Union Territories (8 beaches, 2 riversides) yielding 33,474 individual pieces of debris weighing a total of 599.15 kg. Plastic was the most frequently found material at all ten collection sites, comprising from 45% to 89% of all items found. The research establishes a baseline data collection at ten locations, with debris density at sites ranging from 0.38-3.86 items/m(2). Application of the Clean Coast Index yields resulting rankings of moderate (1 site), dirty (2 sites), and extremely dirty (7 sites). Researchers also identified 2461 brands in analysis at six sites, 76% of which were Indian in origin. Replication of the methods in other Indian regions among the community of thirty-three practitioners was below target for collection (41%) and brand audit (8.3%) with 25% of teams sharing data with the community of practitioners and 12.5% sharing results with local policymakers. The analysis indicates debris is overwhelmingly composed of plastic from residential activities. The methods empower practitioners to collect and report on debris, ground-truthing global debris estimates, and illuminating the missing plastic problem.

作者

我是这篇论文的作者
点击您的名字以认领此论文并将其添加到您的个人资料中。

评论

主要评分

4.6
评分不足

次要评分

新颖性
-
重要性
-
科学严谨性
-
评价这篇论文

推荐

暂无数据
暂无数据