Abstract

Marine debris is a large, complex and urgent problem in coastal management. The emergence of marine debris into this coastal area will then disrupt the ecological, economic and health conditions of the people who live around the area. The purpose of this study was to determine the distribution of marine debris based on the type composition and density in the mangrove ecotourism area in the coastal area of West Oesapa, Kupang city. The data were collected using the observation method by determining the point of observation to place the line transect. The data were analyzed using qualitative and quantitative descriptive analysis methods. The observations found 9 types of marine debris consisting of (1) plastic bags, (2) foamed plastics, (3) fabric, (4) glass and ceramics, (5) metal, (6) paper and cardboard, (7) rubber, (8) wood, and (9) other types of marine debris. The highest average value of the type composition and total density was plastic bags with an average composition value of 92.32% and a total density value of 9.622 items m-2 . The composition and the total density for other types of waste were filled with foamed plastics of 0.829% with a total density value of 0.092 item m-2 , fabric is 2.407% with a total density value of 0.230 item m-2, glass and ceramics is 0.605% with a total density value of 0.060 item m-2 , metal is 0.411% with a total density value of 0.042 item m-2, paper and cardboard of 0.367% with a total density value of 0.040 item m-2 , rubber of 1.390%, with a total density value of 0.148 item m-2, wood of 1.240% with a total density value of 0.130 item m-2, and other marine debris of 0.429% with a total density value of 0.034 item m-2. The largest contributor to marine debris in the mangrove ecotourism area in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia comes from plastic bag waste.

Keyword

•  coastal management,
• plastic waste,
• marine debris distribution,
• mangrove ecosystem.