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Environmental information systems
The Marine Litter Watch (MLW), launched in 2013, supports citizen science by collecting beach litter data on beach litter across Europe and neighbouring countries. Over the past decade, numerous citizens and NGOs have joined the initiative by contributing data to the MLW database. This data comes from a series of beach litter clean-up or monitoring events organised by MLW Community members.
As the initiative has evolved, the community members are now able to provide a consolidated data set, composed of several events rather than item-by-item data entry. The European Environment Agency’s data submission platform Reportnet 3 is now accessible for bulk reporting.
Are you an individual citizen?
Marine Litter Watch used to run smart device and web app, which could be used on a field to record beach litter item-by-item. The web app is still available at MarineLitterWatch web app page and can be used for individual entries; however, it is being phased out, with no administrative/technical support available for it.
Individuals who are interested in collecting beach litter and report related data are encouraged to use the infrastructure of communities active on the topic. We recommend registering as individual user under the project MARNOBA, which also offers a web app for reporting beach litter data. The collected data are eventually shared also with European Environment Agency's MLW database, finding way to annual web reports.
Are you a community?
Numerous communities (NGOs, academia, national environmental institutions, informal groups of citizens) report beach litter data to the MLW database, after collecting and listing litter on the ground. As a community, you are welcome to gain access to Reportnet 3 environmental data submission platform and deliver your data sheets there. While any location on the globe is currently accepted and made part of the MLW database, only beaches adjacent to Europe's regional seas (or in inland Europe, for river/lake shores) - including beaches outside Europe, such as North Africa or the Caucasus - are made part of the annual assessment and report.
Access the guidance document below to:
- insert and organise your data in a single spreadsheet (Excel file),
- access Reportnet 3 and upload your data to the platform,
- validate your data quality with automatic procedure and read through potential data issues,
- officially submit the data set to become part of the MLW database.
Thank you for helping us make a difference!