CoastSnap Mozambique: An experience of citizen science in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic

Citizen science initiatives can be a cost-effective way to obtain simple data, particularly where financial or technical capacity constraints prevent regular and systematic monitoring. CoastSnap is a citizen science approach that facilitates the analysis of shoreline changes using photographs shared by the public. The CoastSnap Mozambique project installed the first CoastSnap stations on the African continent, as a first attempt to gather beach change data at sites where little or no previous knowledge was available. Poor community engagement, limited local technical capacity, and the difficulties imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic prevented the project to realize its potential. Despite many challenges, new knowledge was gained about local beach morphology, identifying specific issues and sites warranting future investigation. Lessons learned from the CoastSnap Mozambique experience can help future projects to identify the pitfalls that may be encountered in locations facing similar socioeconomic and technical limitations.