Guideline for Monitoring Marine Litter on the Beaches in the OSPAR Maritime Area. Edition 1.0.

Abstract

A guideline for monitoring marine litter on beaches has been developed by OSPAR as a tool to collect data on litter in the marine environment. This tool has been designed to generate data on marine litter according to a standardized methodology. A uniform way of monitoring allows for regional interpretation of the litter situation in the OSPAR area and comparisons between regions. The guideline has been designed in such a way that all OSPAR countries can participate, bearing in mind adequate quality assurance of the data generated. It is based on the method developed during the OSPAR pilot project 2000- 2006 and complimented with information derived from UNEP’s own realisation of a worldwide guideline. The data collected according to the OSPAR guideline can be fed into the UNEP programme as the methods are compatible.