The eastern Mediterranean is a region that has been relatively understudied with regards to anthropogenic marine litter despite potential for environmental and social costs. Here, coastal marine litter accumulation was assessed at eight beach locations along the coast of Northern Cyprus. Monthly surveys were performed between January 2017 and January 2019. All items ≥ 2.5 cm in diameter within the same 250 m² plot were collected and processed. A total of 59,556 separate items were collected with a total mass of 697 kg. At the worst affected site (Ronnas Bay) litter accumulation averaged 1114 items and 11.9 kg per month. Plastic and polystyrene litter accounted for 82% (622.71 kg) of all litter types by mass and 96% (57,231) by frequency. Plastic bags, plastic pieces, drinks containers, caps/lids were the four most abundant forms of plastic by mass and by frequency. This suggests dumping/poor domestic waste governance as the main driver of marine litter in the region.

The heavy metals (HMs) concentration range, the metal/Al and metal/Fe value were determined in the sediment in order to evaluate the correlation coefficient of HMs at the regions of South East Mediterranean Sea, Cyprus. The results showed that the mean concentrations of the HMs in the sediment samples followed the order Al > Fe > Mn > Cr > Ni > Zn > Cu > Pb > As>Hg, respectively. The pollution indices of contamination factor (CF), geoaccumulation index (Igeo), enrichment factor (EF), and soil pollution index (SPI) were calculated. The Igeo, CF and EF values for Cu were obtained moderately to strongly polluted, moderate contamination and moderately severe enrichment, respectively. The remaining elements indicated unpolluted or low contamination results. Also, SPI indicated a low level of contamination for the all of the metals. The cluster analysis of data set indicates that the HMs are separated with 50% similarity in two categories of Al category (As, Pb, Cr, Ni) and Fe category (Mn, Zn, Cu, Hg).

The intelligent method proposed herein is formulated on a deep learning technique which can identify, localise and map the shape of plastic debris in the marine environment. Utilising images depicting plastic litter from six beaches in Cyprus, the developed tool pointed to a plastic litter density of 0.035 items/m². Extrapolated to the entire shorelines of the island, the intelligent approach estimated about 66,000 plastic articles weighting a total of ≈1000 kg. Besides deducing the plastic litter density, the dimensions of all documented plastic litter were determined with the aid of the OpenCV Contours image processing tool. Results revealed that the dominant object length ranged between 10 and 30 cm which is in agreement with the length of common plastic litter often spoiling these coastlines. Concluding, only in-situ visual scan sample surveys and no manual collection means were used to predict the density and the dimensions of the plastic litter.

This paper aims to identify and evaluate the landscape and natural resource (traditional ecological knowledge) social values of marine and coastal ecosystem services (MCESs) in Kyrenia (Girne) Region of Northern Cyprus. To this end, the objectives of the study were (1) to identify and evaluate the key landscape social values of MCESs, and (2) to record and assess the major marine and coastal natural resources harvested as traditional ecological knowledge. Participatory and deliberative research techniques were used to uncover both value types. The data on the marine and coastal natural resources as traditional ecological knowledge were obtained from the stakeholders through 6 in-depth discussion groups and 9 in-depth interviews. The quantitative data on the landscape social values of MCESs were collected with a questionnaire designed. Within this context; the respondents scored the importance of MCESs on a five-point Likert scale. The results showed that the stakeholders hold six landscape social values of MCESs: aesthetic, entertainment, life-sustaining, biodiversity, recreation, and nutrition. However, the total average relative degree of MCESs was found to be very low with 1.71 points. Besides, it was determined that the stakeholders harvest 29 fishes and 3 plant species from the marine and coastal ecosystems. The landscape and natural resource social values of MCESs, and relevant traditional ecological knowledge are important cultural heritage and guiding principles, which should be incorporated into the landscape and natural resource management policies in the region and elsewhere. A greater focus should also be given to integrating the values identified in the ecosystem services assessment.