Marine Debris and Biodiversity in Latin America and the Caribbean

Executive Summary The Latin American and Caribbean region is an important biodiverse region containing over 50 percent of the world’s biodiversity. Regional biodiversity hotspots include the Caribbean Islands biodiversity hotspot, the Mesoamerica biodiversity hotspot, and in South America, the Tropical East Pacific, the Humboldt Current, and the Tropical West Atlantic.

Executive Summary

The Latin American and Caribbean region is an important biodiverse region containing over 50 percent of the world’s biodiversity. Regional biodiversity hotspots include the Caribbean Islands biodiversity hotspot, the Mesoamerica biodiversity hotspot, and in South America, the Tropical East Pacific, the Humboldt Current, and the Tropical West Atlantic. Within the region, key ecosystems of biodiversity importance include mangroves, seagrass and coral reefs while key fauna of biodiversity importance include marine mammals, sea turtles, fish, and birds. To protect these rich natural resources, approximately 21.7 percent of total territorial area is protected in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNEP-WCMC 2019); 30 percent of reefs in the Wider Caribbean region are protected via marine protected areas (WRI 2011). 

However, marine biodiversity in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) is impacted by a range of factors, including overfishing, coastal development, sedimentation, contamination, climate change, and weak or uncoordinated management of natural resources, among others. Latin American and Caribbean nations also produce 424,000 tons of waste daily, and less than 25 percent is processed into regulated sanitary landfills (UNEP, 2005). While the prevalence and impacts of marine debris are widely recognized, its effects have historically been understudied in the region (Bravo et al, 2009). Most marine debris in the Caribbean region is from shoreline and recreational activities, with plastic beverage bottles accounting for nearly 20 percent of total litter, according to the UNEP (2005) report. Plastic and paper bags comprise nearly 17 percent of marine litter, followed by caps and lids (11.4 percent), utensils, cups and plates (9.6 percent), cigarettes (8.4 percent) and glass beverage bottles (8.3 percent) (CEP 2014). The plastic degrades into one of three general size classes: macroplastics, microplastics and nanoplastics (Section 1).