Beach wrack of the Baltic Sea – public acceptance and implications for beach management

Beach wrack is a specific challenge for coastal communities around the Baltic Sea region. It is often removed from sandy tourist beaches as part of municipal beach cleaning operations. Some local authorities remove even the smallest amounts of beach wrack to meet perceived public demand for ‘cleaned...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of coastal conservation 2024-02, Vol.28 (1), p.3, Article 3
Main Authors: Hofmann, Jane, Stybel, Nardine, Lovato, Marco, Banovec, Matej
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Beaches
Cleaning
Coastal Sciences
Desensitization
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecosystem services
Geography
Nature Conservation
Oceanography
Public opinion
Remote Sensing/Photogrammetry
Tourists
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Summary:Beach wrack is a specific challenge for coastal communities around the Baltic Sea region. It is often removed from sandy tourist beaches as part of municipal beach cleaning operations. Some local authorities remove even the smallest amounts of beach wrack to meet perceived public demand for ‘cleaned’ beaches with little regard for any environmental consequences. This research explores the public opinion of beach wrack to determine whether there is, in fact, a demand for its ‘total’ removal from sandy tourist beaches. It explores how the acceptance levels of tourists and residents change depending on the amount of beach wrack present and looks at how people’s knowledge of beach wrack and their experience influences behaviour. For this study, over 700 members of the public were interviewed at sites in 5 different countries across the region. The interviews took place on or near regularly ‘cleaned’ tourist beaches where beach wrack is commonplace. The questions focused on the public’s attitudes towards the aesthetics of different beach wrack amounts. The study shows that while beach wrack does not positively affect most people’s beach experience, small quantities of beach wrack are tolerated. Public perception of beach wrack differs per country, and acceptance of certain amounts is linked to direct, visual, and practical experience. Beach managers can move towards a more sustainable beach wrack policy by desensitising beachgoers to small, unproblematic amounts of beach wrack and by helping to build public knowledge about the important ecosystem services that beach wrack provides.
ISSN:1400-0350
1874-7841
DOI:10.1007/s11852-023-00995-3