The Vision
Tackling Coastal Litter

The SCRAPbook project is an exciting partnership between three charities to map marine litter on the coasts of mainland Scotland using aerial photography…and we need your help! 

Children Playing
Your time and donations will transform Scotland’s coastline and inshore waters as we work together to tackle litter and pollution.Vicky Junik, Project Partner

Introducing SCRAPbookAbout the project

  In 2017 the Marine Conservation Society coordinated over 1500 volunteers to survey and clean up sections of the Scottish coast which resulted in over 58,000 pieces of litter from 111 beaches being removed and surveyed in just four days. Despite this, and other efforts, we do not currently have a comprehensive understanding of the distribution of litter on our coasts. The Marine Conservation Society data set captures under 1% of Scotland’s coastline highlighting the need for more information. Collecting a data set of this type using land-based beach survey alone can be time consuming and expensive, due to both the scale of the task and the challenges in accessing some stretches of coast.

This is where the SCRAPbook project is needed and can help. Pilots from the charity Sky Watch Civil Air Patrol are taking to the air to image the Scottish coastline by taking aerial photographs of marine litter they can see from the air. Working with the Moray Firth Partnership and the Marine Conservation Society this unique third sector collaboration will produce a brand-new data set for Scotland to use in the fight against the growing plastic tide.  

These aerial photographs will be used to create an online map which will help to inform targeted, efficient beach cleaning and on ground surveying. The data set will, for the first time, provide a comprehensive and quantifiable indicator for coastal litter in Scotland. A coalition of community, third sector, corporate groups, as well as individual volunteers from right across Scotland are already on-board and ready to use the online map to help coordinate beach cleans and litter surveys on the ground. 

SCRAPbook is being designed to not only catalyse the most comprehensive and effective clean-up of our coasts, but to greatly increase the amount of data available about coastal litter which can also be used to drive change to stop the litter getting onto Scotland’s coasts in the first place.

To volunteer with this project, either to fly the planes, take the photos, categorize the photos, or to find out how to get involved in beach cleans please visit our Volunteering page.

Please browse the website to find out more on the project needs and funding requirements.