Sandwatch
Encyclopedia
Sandwatch is a grassroots network of schools and community groups working together to monitor and conserve local beach and nearshore environments and to build resilience to climate change
. The project is coordinated by the Sandwatch Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization
, and supported by international organizations including the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
.
Sea Grant College Programme) remain sponsors, the organization now operates autonomously. As of 2008, the foundation is directed by Paul Diamond and Gillian Cambers.
and other factors change over time, ideally more than a year, the teams can determine whether their beach is stable and healthy or stressed and deteriorating, and the nature of the stressors. A Sandwatch climate change database, presently under design, is intended to provide an inventory of beach data against which climate change impacts can be assessed from 2010 onwards.
When a group identifies a problem it can, with the community, develop a project to address and mitigate the problem or problems. Project activities include alerting the media to potential problems such as water contamination
(from sewage or agricultural runoff for example), conducting beach clean-ups, replanting mangroves or dune stabilization vegetation, creating signage for proper beach use, monitoring and protecting marine turtle nesting sites, or monitoring the effects of coral bleaching
. By keeping the beach and related ecosystems healthy they are made more resilient and better able to adapt to climate change.
All Sandwatch groups are encouraged to regularly post their data, photographs and other project details on the Sandwatch website, as well as to contribute articles and photographs to the Foundation’s news journal The Sandwatcher, which is published several times per year in English, Spanish and French language editions.
Sandwatch representatives from each country are also invited to participate in regional and international workshops and conferences, where they share their experiences and data and forge partnerships with similar environmental groups. Video conferences and contests between teams are also regularly held to promote the charity's activities. In 2008 the Fiji government endorsed a Sandwatch video competition, citing the cause of combating climate change as a national responsibility.
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
. The project is coordinated by the Sandwatch Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
, and supported by international organizations including the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
.
History
Sandwatch was founded in 2001 in the Caribbean. By 2009 it was active in over 40 countries, including islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans and coastal areas of Africa. The initiative was coordinated by two sectors of UNESCO: its Natural Sciences and Education divisions. A website and newsletter were launched in 2006, and an awareness-raising fair held at Mayaro Government Primary School in Trinidad. In 2008 the Sandwatch Foundation was established as an independent organization to oversee the project; though UNESCO (and the University of Puerto RicoUniversity of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico is the state university system of Puerto Rico. The system consists of 11 campuses and has approximately 64,511 students and 5,300 faculty members...
Sea Grant College Programme) remain sponsors, the organization now operates autonomously. As of 2008, the foundation is directed by Paul Diamond and Gillian Cambers.
Activities
Each Sandwatch school or group adopts a local beach and regularly takes a series of measurements and tests of their beach using simple and readily available equipment. By measuring how the beach width, currents, waves, water qualityWater quality
Water quality is the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water. It is a measure of the condition of water relative to the requirements of one or more biotic species and or to any human need or purpose. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which...
and other factors change over time, ideally more than a year, the teams can determine whether their beach is stable and healthy or stressed and deteriorating, and the nature of the stressors. A Sandwatch climate change database, presently under design, is intended to provide an inventory of beach data against which climate change impacts can be assessed from 2010 onwards.
When a group identifies a problem it can, with the community, develop a project to address and mitigate the problem or problems. Project activities include alerting the media to potential problems such as water contamination
Water pollution
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies . Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds....
(from sewage or agricultural runoff for example), conducting beach clean-ups, replanting mangroves or dune stabilization vegetation, creating signage for proper beach use, monitoring and protecting marine turtle nesting sites, or monitoring the effects of coral bleaching
Coral bleaching
Coral bleaching is the loss of intracellular endosymbionts through either expulsion or loss of algal pigmentation.The corals that form the structure of the great reef ecosystems of tropical seas depend upon a symbiotic relationship with unicellular flagellate protozoa, called zooxanthellae, that...
. By keeping the beach and related ecosystems healthy they are made more resilient and better able to adapt to climate change.
All Sandwatch groups are encouraged to regularly post their data, photographs and other project details on the Sandwatch website, as well as to contribute articles and photographs to the Foundation’s news journal The Sandwatcher, which is published several times per year in English, Spanish and French language editions.
Sandwatch representatives from each country are also invited to participate in regional and international workshops and conferences, where they share their experiences and data and forge partnerships with similar environmental groups. Video conferences and contests between teams are also regularly held to promote the charity's activities. In 2008 the Fiji government endorsed a Sandwatch video competition, citing the cause of combating climate change as a national responsibility.