BEACH LITTER AND GRADING OF THE COASTAL LANDSCAPE FOR TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN SECTIONS OF GUYANA’S COAST

Abstract

Beach litter constitutes one of the glaring signs of pollution in coastal landscape and environment. In this study, litter presence and composition were assessed for the five (5) sampling sites along the coastline in three (3) Administrative Regions (Regions 4, 5, and 6) in Guyana based on fieldwork carried out in January 2018. Survey of beach litters represents a fundamental, standard, and documented tool for monitoring pollution in a coastal environment and this method was used in evaluating, classifying, and quantifying the composition of beach litters along the five (5) sites aforementioned. This study showed that the litter contents varied considerable among the sampling sites. However, out of all the categories of beach litter items in all of the sample sites, plastic materials accounted for most of the litter followed by metal, paper/card, glass, wood fragments, clothing materials, organic materials, and pottery at 48.2%, 20.8%, 11.5%, 6.8%, 4.7%, 4.6%, 3.2%, and 0.2% respectively. The average grading of the beaches shows that none could be graded A (very good), without cleaning up of such areas of litter. Rosignol beach (Sample Site 3) and Georgetown beach (Sample Site 5) were the only beaches with average grade C (fair) while the other three (3) samples sites could only be graded D, very poor. This paper highlights the geographic distribution, pattern, and litter composition in the study areas. To meet the demands of the potential beach users for the purpose of coastal tourism and to benefit from the growing “sun, sea, and sand (3S)” industry, conscious and strategic Beach Litter Management and Monitoring, among other recommendations, is suggested in this study.