Plastic pollution on remote islands: A baseline study of Príncipe, Gulf of Guinea

Maguiña Ramilo-Henry; Belzamiel Umbelina; Estrela Matilde; Emily M Duncan

doi:10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.106181

Plastic pollution on remote islands: A baseline study of Príncipe, Gulf of Guinea

Mar Environ Res. 2023 Oct:191:106181. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.106181. Epub 2023 Sep 16.

Authors

Maguiña Ramilo-Henry¹, Belzamiel Umbelina², Estrela Matilde², Emily M Duncan³

Affiliations

¹ Fundação Príncipe, a Registered Charity in São Tomé and Príncipe, Rua Horta Cana, Santo António, Príncipe, Island, São Tomé and Príncipe, South Africa. Electronic address: maguinarh@gmail.com.
² Fundação Príncipe, a Registered Charity in São Tomé and Príncipe, Rua Horta Cana, Santo António, Príncipe, Island, São Tomé and Príncipe, South Africa.
³ Fundação Príncipe, a Registered Charity in São Tomé and Príncipe, Rua Horta Cana, Santo António, Príncipe, Island, São Tomé and Príncipe, South Africa; Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9EZ, United Kingdom.

PMID: 37738737
DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.106181

Abstract

Plastic is the most abundant marine anthropogenic debris in the ocean and is of serious global environmental concern. Projects aimed at monitoring plastic pollution quantities are key in evaluating the success of reduction. This study provides baseline information on the quantities of marine debris found on the island of Príncipe in the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic coast of Central Africa. A total of 13,196 items were collected with 64.5% of these items being plastic. Plastic pieces the size of 2.5-50 cm made up 20.8% of all plastic items, followed by plastic bags (13.3%) and fishing material (11.39%). The density of mesoplastic items (<25 and >5mm) ranged between 0 and 6.78 items m^-2. Beach location, community presence, and beach level (for turtle-nesting beaches) were important factors in explaining differences in plastic abundance and density around the island. Our results highlight the significance of high plastic pollution accumulation on remote islands.

Keywords: Baseline studies; Beach sampling; Coastal zones; Island; Marine debris; Plastic pollution; Pollution monitoring; Sea turtle; São tomé and príncipe.