Participatory mapping of transboundary pollution: the case of Imperial Beach, California

Abstract

IntroductionTransboundary pollution is a major global challenge and monitoring beach litter along international borders can reveal some of the pathways by which litter enters water bodies, and hence advance the implementation of measures to prevent pollution emissions into international waters.MethodsIn this paper, participatory mapping was used to detect beach litter in Imperial Beach, California, along the U.S.-Mexico international border. This study implemented a 3-step protocol including an introductory awareness workshop, a macro-debris survey to categorize and remove beach litter, and a qualitative assessment of pollution drivers.ResultsResults show that plastic litter is the most dominant across all transects (304 debris, 52.6% of all litter observations), with an average density of 76 pieces/transect, with plastic being the most common material. Participants identified some of the major causes of pollution with paucity of waste management facilities, tourism activities near/on the beach, and inflow of pollution across the border.DiscussionThe paper highlights the role of citizen science in monitoring pollution along large and border regions. Implications of this study include methodological and practical contributions to the study of marine pollution to supplement the current paucity of information on pollution movement and distribution.