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Project: START
Type of business:
  • Marine Environment
Contact:
CITEB, c/o CYROI, 2 Maxime Rivière Street, 97490 Sainte Clotilde

Contact
"DEMARRE" is funded by the Regional Prefecture and the Réunion Region
Our partners
Related documents:
Project Overview:
Assessment and Monitoring of Marine Debris in Réunion. The project aims to assess the presence of marine debris in the waters surrounding Réunion and to establish a long-term monitoring program that complies with EU recommendations. The project is funded by DEAL and the Réunion Region.

 MARINE LITTER

Any waste found at sea—whether on the surface or in the water column—as well as any waste on beaches and the shoreline that could be washed back into the sea by the swell is considered marine debris. There are several categories of marine debris, defined by the size of the debris: 

Small microplastics – 0.3–1 mm
Large microplastics – 1–5 mm
Medium-sized waste – 5 mm – 2.5 cm
Shell waste > 2.5 cm

The setting

  • The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD): a strategy for achieving good ecological status (Descriptor 10 concerns marine litter). 
  • The Government’s “Zero Plastic Waste in the Ocean” Action Plan ( 2020–2025).
  • The National Strategy for the Sea and the Coastline (SNML) and the Strategic Document for the Southern Indian Ocean Maritime Basin (DSBM) address the issue of marine debris.

The DEMARRE project aims to implement and adapt European protocols to the context of Réunion. 

The objectives

  1. Identify coastal accumulation zones around the island ( Activity 1).
  2. Monitor marine debris (macro and micro) along the coast of Réunion in accordance with MSFD protocols (Activities 2 and 3).
  3. Assess the presence of macro-debris at selected sites on the outer slope of the west coast reef ( Activity 2).
  4. Store the data in the specific DALI database ( Activity 4).
  5. Serve as a liaison with countries in the Indian Ocean region, particularly with initiatives led by the IOC (ExPLOI project) and WIOMSA (Activity 5).
  6. Propose a sustainable monitoring strategy

The Strategy

5 sites (beaches and adjacent coastal waters) located around the island. 

-> 2 years of quarterly follow-ups (2021–2023)

6 reef monitoring stations (outer slope) 

-> 2 seasons (dry and wet)

Protocols

  1. Litter found on beaches: collected along three 50-meter transects, then counted and weighed by category.
  2. Mesowaste and large microplastics found on the beach: collected in several 50-cm-wide strips from the water’s edge to the top of the beach (using a metal spatula), sifted, counted, and weighed by category.
  3. Microplastics in sediment: collected from five 50x50 cm quadrats, 5 cm deep. The sediment is sieved; large microplastics are separated by visual inspection, and small microplastics are separated by flotation, then counted and weighed by category.
  4. Large floating marine debris: surveyed along three 1-nautical-mile transects by an observer on a ship.
  5. Microplastics in the ocean: collected using a Manta net towed behind a slow-moving ship, then counted and weighed by category.
  6. Non-floating macro-debris: surveyed and collected along two 100x5-meter transects during scuba dives. The impact on coral is also being studied.

(Illustration: Manon CONDET, Citeb)