Beach litter in Ecuador and the Galapagos islands: A baseline to enhance environmental conservation and sustainable beach tourism

Marine Pollution Bulletin
Carlos MestanzaAlexis Mooser

Abstract

The presence and characterization of beach litter was investigated, according to the EA/NALG (2000) methodology, at 59 sites along four provinces of Ecuador, i.e., three continental and the Galapagos Islands Province. The methodology, which has been verified in several countries, was used to classify beaches into four grades (from "A" - excellent to "D" - poor) according to the content of nine types of litter. Twenty-two sites (i.e., 37% of total) obtained Grade "C", 18 (31%) Grade "B", 12 (20%) Grade "A", and 7 (12%) Grade "D". The province that showed excellent litter grades was the Galapagos Islands where 88% of beaches obtained Grade "A", whereas Santa Elena and Esmeraldas provinces presented the worst beaches in terms of litter content and abundance. Environmental authorities should focus more attention on continental beaches by improving adequate cleaning operations to make them more attractive to national and international tourism.

References

Feb 15, 2013·Nature·Chelsea M RochmanRichard C Thompson
Jun 2, 2014·Marine Pollution Bulletin·A T WilliamsO A Alharbi
Oct 2, 2017·Marine Pollution Bulletin·Melanie BergmannLars Gutow
Oct 17, 2017·Marine Pollution Bulletin·Michael PreveniosGeorge Papatheodorou
Feb 25, 2018·Marine Pollution Bulletin·Nelson Rangel-BuitragoGiorgio Anfuso
Mar 25, 2018·Marine Pollution Bulletin·Falk SchneiderMarcelle C McManus
Mar 25, 2018·Marine Pollution Bulletin·Urban ŠilcDanijela Stešević
Jun 12, 2018·Marine Pollution Bulletin·Natália Ramos CorrainiNelson Rangel-Buitrago
Jan 29, 2019·Marine Pollution Bulletin·Seweryn ZielinskiAndrea Yanes

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Citations

May 29, 2021·The Science of the Total Environment·Jen S JonesCeri Lewis
Aug 6, 2021·Marine Pollution Bulletin·Rayane R S AbudeTatiana M B Cabrini

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