Antalya’s Lara Beach Conducts Scientific Coastal Litter Monitoring

The Muratpaşa Municipality in Antalya led a second Marine Litter Watch (MLW) survey on Lara Beach, partnering with the Turkish Environmental Education Foundation, the Lara Tourism Investors Union, the Antalya Chamber of Environmental Engineers and local schools. Students from Bahçeşehir College Lara Campus and Yükseliş College collected plastic, metal, glass and other waste, classifying and coding each item before entering the data into the European Environment Agency’s system. A Kyrgyz delegation participated under the Blue Flag programme.

The program, part of an international coastal‑debris monitoring effort, will repeat four times a year to track seasonal changes in litter density and composition. Organizers aim to identify pollution sources and support long‑term environmental policies. Participants emphasized the need for public awareness, with one student stating, "Doğaya çöp ve plastik atılmamalı. Sahilleri ve tüm canlıları korumalıyız," and another noting, "Sahillerde cam ve sigara izmaritleri başta olmak üzere çok fazla çöp var. İnsanların bu konuda uyarılması ve bilinçlendirilmesi gerekiyor."