Despite the rain and overcast skies on Sunday, April 13, citizen commitment to the environment did not waver. Numerous volunteers gathered at the WWF Oasis of Alberoni, in Lido di Venezia, for a beach clean-up and marine litter monitoring day, organized by Venice Lagoon Plastic Free (VLPF) in collaboration with WWF Venezia.
The initiative is part of the HEUROPE SeaClear2.0 and REMEDIES projects, funded by the EU Mission Ocean and Waters, and included in the WWF’s Plastic Smart Cities program, which the city of Venice has joined.
The unmechanized cleaned and free-access beach of Alberoni provided an ideal setting to observe the natural dynamics of marine litter accumulation. Here, volunteers had the opportunity to engage in hands-on citizen science work using two dedicated apps developed by VLPF as part of the aforementioned projects.
The app created under the SeaClear2.0 project was used to support the clean-up operation, while the second app, focused on monitoring, enabled the classification and recording of waste according to European protocols. This generated data compliant with EMODnet (European Marine Observation and Data Network) standards, for which VLPF is an official data provider.
Over the course of the morning, 33.05 kg of marine litter was collected, including 28.7 kg of plastic. Monitoring activities recorded a total of 710 items, highlighting the predominance of macroplastics—plastic materials larger than 2.5 cm.
Below are the three most commonly found categories of waste along the 100-meter stretch of monitored beach:
- 175 unidentifiable rigid plastic fragments (2.5–50 cm in size)
- 48 plastic bottle caps
- 43 plastic cords and ribbons originating from fishing-related activities
The success of the day was made possible thanks to the enthusiasm and active participation of volunteers from VLPF, WWF Venezia, and students from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Undeterred by the bad weather, they chose to take part directly in the protection of one of the most fragile ecosystems along our coastline.
