Most of what we understand about where litter is located on our coasts comes from beach cleans. Whilst these surveys collect brilliant data, they are limited in coverage – as a result of both the scale of the task and the challenges in accessing some of Scotland’s rugged coastline.

This is where the SCRAPbook project comes in! Pilots from the charity Sky Watch Civil Air Patrol are taking to the air to assess the 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 tide of litter and plastics.

These aerial photographs are used to create an online map to inform targeted, efficient beach cleaning and litter 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 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.