Box 6A Coastwatch Europe surveys

The coastal surveys coordinated by Coastwatch Europe began in 1987 and ran in six countries as an international survey in 1989. They aim to collect comparable information on the coast, its characteristics and threats, effluent discharges, quality indicators, litter pollution, changes to the 'coastal rim' and destruction of habitats. The surveys are carried out by volunteers guided by regional and local coordinators and instructed by local authority representatives, teachers, wildlife officers and others knowledgable in the field. For the fifth survey completed in September/October 1993 (Coastwatch, 1994), over 100 000 volunteers took part in 21 European countries.

Each year since 1989 the sample size has been over 10 000 survey units (each unit is equal to 500 m of coastline): in 1993 there were approximately 15 000 survey units. Two countries provided more than 50 per cent of the returns: UK (34 per cent) and Spain (26 per cent). The percentage of coastline covered in each country is very variable and has been changing since 1989. In 1993 more than 7.5 per cent of the national coastline of seven countries was surveyed: Ireland (9 per cent), UK (12 per cent), Germany (15 per cent), Spain (16 per cent), The Netherlands (20 per cent), Lithuania (30 per cent) and Poland (55 per cent). Of these countries, all except The Netherlands believe the results to be representative of the accessible part of the coastline.

The Coastwatch information on coastal litter pollution provides the most comprehensive data on this subject available for Europe. A summary follows:


Figure 6.3 - Coastwatch Europe: larger litter items in the splash zone (collective data), 1989­93

Source: Coastwatch, 1993, 1994


Figure 6.4 - Coastwatch Europe: large and general litter items in the splash zone of four seas (collective data), 1993

Source: Coastwatch, 1993, 1994