Monitoring and assessment guidelines for marine litter in Mediterranean MPAs. Technical report of the Interreg/ MED/AMARE project.

Abstract

As part of the AMARE project, the main purpose of this report is to provide advice and practical guidance, for establishing programmes to monitor and assess the distribution and abundance of marine litter in MPAs. The present document build on relevant existing monitoring and assessment practices in the Mediterranean, such as the existing monitoring practices in UNEP/MAP and within the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. The proposed strategy (defining the sampling scheme, the environmental compartment to monitor and the protocols to be used) is also based on recommendations of the UN GESAMP report on monitoring marine litter (GESAMP, 2019). In addition, it is based on the experience of ongoing monitoring and assessment activities under various scientific projects, including in the Mediterranean Sea (CleanSea, Marelitt, Perseus, Marlisco, Ac4forlitter, INDICIT, MEDseaLitter, Plastic Buster MPA, PANACEA, Life projects, etc.), and also considers the available scientific literature.