MAPPING AND ANALYSIS OF CITIZEN SCIENCE IN COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN: ADVANCES, THEMES, AND CHALLENGES

Abstract

UNESCO’s Pact emphasizes the importance of ensuring the sharing of data, results, and open research methods among researchers and the community as transformative agents, regardless of geographic origin or socioeconomic status. The growing pressure on coastal environments, intensified by climate change and increased human occupation, demands innovative solutions for their management and conservation. In coastal zones, many Citizen Science projects direct their actions, choice of themes, and formulation of questions toward the evaluation and monitoring of these habitats. The analysis of environmental conservation policies applied to Latin American contexts highlights actions that can lead to necessary changes for marginalized populations in these countries, while also emphasizing Latin America’s leadership in citizen mobilizations aimed at improving and protecting marine and coastal areas. This research aims to analyze and map successful Citizen Science projects in coastal zones across Latin American and Caribbean countries, addressing their main themes, relevance, progress, and challenges in the development of their actions. The methodology consists of a bibliographic review of projects in Latin America and the Caribbean and their mapping through digital platforms that disseminate Citizen Science initiatives. The platforms used were: Cívis Platform, Biocollect Platform, and SciStarter, selected based on project location, data availability, and project relevance—both in terms of research topics and achieved results.A total of 29 projects were mapped along the Brazilian coast and 27 projects across coastal zones in Latin America and the Caribbean. Field data collection was conducted in three of the studied projects. The projects proved successful despite the lack of public support—whether in funding, infrastructure, or integration of collected data into policy decisions. Fifteen distinct thematic areas were identified, with most projects focused on marine species preservation, where legislation in some countries was reformulated based on project outcomes. Only four projects addressed coastal erosion, an extremely important theme due to its physical environmental impacts, caused by both natural factors and anthropogenic actions, such as irregular and unplanned occupation, removal of native vegetation, and loss of beach width.