Perception of Citizens Regarding Marine Litter Impacts: Collaborative Methodologies in Island Fishing Communities of Cape Verde

Abstract

Marine litter has been considered one of the most serious global challenges, requiring urgent action by governmental bodies, especially in African Small Island Developing States (SIDS), where resources and research are limited. In addition to this, waste management and environmental education and ocean literacy programs in schools are scarce, with islands suffering more seriously from these problems. Despite the amount of literature regarding causes and impacts of marine litter, there is still not enough research conducted concerning the public perceptions on both the problem and the potential solutions. This is even more noticeable in African developing countries, where resources and research are scarce. Perception plays a key role for ecosystem management and conservation policies. This study intends to explore the perceptions of local island fishing communities in Cape Verde regarding marine litter, in order to contribute for an improvement of marine ecosystem management and development of conservation policies. To achieve that, two participatory sessions were conducted in two communities in the island of Santiago—Porto Mosquito and Porto Gouveia—where brainstorming and active listening were used to create shared and authentic spaces for dialogue between the members of the community. Results show that the population of both communities were very aware of the marine litter problem. They were able to identify the lack of a proper waste management system in the island and the inappropriate behaviours of the population as the main causes of this problem. Equipment damages and the presence of plastic inside the fish were the most relevant impacts identified by the participants. These findings reinforce previous research on the importance of public engagement and environmental education to contribute to the conservation of marine ecosystems and to build a strong collaborative ocean governance.

Proposed solutions for marine debris in the Windward Islands- perspectives from key policy makers and policy influencers

“…Diez et al, 2019;Brooks et al, 2020), other SIDS e.g. Cape Verde (Ferreira et al, 2021), and even islands of developed regions e.g., the Greek islands (Skanavis and Kounani, 2016;Kounani and Skanavis, 2018). These inefficiencies include insufficient trash bins for public usage, inadequacies in disposal and collection schemes especially for household "white goods" 5 and bulky waste, the lack of waste segregation, overfilled trash sites and landfills, and lack of recycling opportunities.…”

“…Most islands are highly on imported food and manufactured goods locally consumed and used (Potter, 2002;Eckelman and Chertow, 2009;Clayton et al, 2021) and so are the Windward Islands (Graham, 2022a). As it is known, most of the food consumed comes in packages, especially plastic ones, as they are durable, maintain food quality and are also more convenient in terms of transportation and usage by consumers (Ferreira et al, 2021), contributing to the increasing global production of plastic. Global plastics production doubled from 2000 to 2019 to reach 460 million tonnes (Cooke, 2022; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2022a).…”

“Where does it go?”: Perceptions and problems of riverine and marine litter amongst South Africa and Malawi’s urban poor

“…For most investigations, spatial analysis has centred on the coastline, or most specifically the beach, the space where most respondents (urban, Northern, middle class), encounter marine litter [6,7]. Kusumawati et al [8] also centres their investigation on the beach, though within a South context, while Lewin et al [9] and Ferreira et al [10] also centre on coastlines, but through the lens of recreational or subsistence fishing. As Ferreira et al [10] point out, awareness and perception plays a key role in ecosystem management.…”

“…Kusumawati et al [8] also centres their investigation on the beach, though within a South context, while Lewin et al [9] and Ferreira et al [10] also centre on coastlines, but through the lens of recreational or subsistence fishing. As Ferreira et al [10] point out, awareness and perception plays a key role in ecosystem management. Despite the growing body of scholarship on both the causes and consequences of riverine and marine litter, research on public awareness and perceptions around the problem lags, particularly in South and African nations.…”

Marine Litter

“…Based on the social-ecological scenarios that emerged, governance recommendations were provided by the authors [6]. Social aspects are also considered in another research paper of this Special Issue, which addresses the issue of marine litter in African small island developing states [7]. The study intended to explore the perceptions of local island fishing communities in Cape Verde regarding marine litter, in order to contribute to an improvement of marine ecosystem management and development of conservation policies.…”