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Short Abstract

Small Island States (SIS) face severe marine threats, creating critical data needs for effective governance. Citizen Science (CS) offers a participatory tool, but current research is skewed towards Western regions. This study reviews CS in SIS to share crucial insights into island peripheries.

Abstract

Small Island States (SIS) face disproportionate threats to their marine and coastal environments, making the collection of data critical for effective governance and management. Due to the pressing global need to address data gaps and engage citizens in science and policy, Citizen Science (CS) provides a valuable participatory approach to complement current environmental monitoring procedures. CS initiatives enable the public to participate in various stages of research whilst fostering new scientific discoveries and local knowledge. Current literature and reviews of marine and coastal CS have primarily focused on Western regions, whilst knowledge of CS within SIS is limited. The inherent vulnerabilities of SIS, such as remoteness, demographics, geography, and resource constraints, pose significant challenges for the consistent collection of robust marine and coastal data. Therefore, understanding SIS perspectives is crucial to fostering community participation in CS initiatives to strengthen environmental stewardship and protection. Through adopting the PRISMA 2020 framework, this research systematically examines three databases of 35 SIS. The results will show the current scope of CS campaigns in SIS to understand the barriers and motives for implementation and participation in marine and coastal contexts. This research forms part of the ‘MEDiverSEAty’ project for Marine Biodiversity Conservation and Ocean Literacy funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network.