Marine Litter Abundance and Composition from Vanuatu Beach Cleanups, 2018-2019

Three CSV files detail marine litter collected during beach clean-ups on Efate Island, Vanuatu. The data includes item counts per category, GPS coordinates for locations, and metadata from the clean-up events. The dataset was compiled by the Government Digital Service from clean-ups conducted between November 2018 and February 2019.

Use Cases

• Analyze the composition and abundance of marine litter based on the item category counts.
• Map pollution hotspots and distribution based on the provided GPS coordinates.
• Study clean-up event logistics and conditions using the collected metadata.
• Compare litter categories against merged OSPAR and Tangaroa Blue protocols with region-specific additions.

Strengths

• Data is structured across three dedicated files for litter counts, locations, and metadata.
• Category list merges two established protocols (OSPAR and Tangaroa Blue) with region-specific items.
• Includes GPS coordinates in decimal degrees for spatial analysis.

Limitations

• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect geographic and temporal bias limited to Efate Island, Vanuatu, in late 2018 and early 2019.

Provenance

Source

Government Digital Service

Collection Method

Items collected during organized beach clean-up events.

Time Range

November 2018 to February 2019

Freshness

Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Geography

Efate Island, Vanuatu