NESP 3.5: Supporting regional planning in northern Australia: Building knowledge, skills & partnerships for understanding seagrass distribution (Old ID 29021)
Role
Chief Investigator
Description
Northern Australia has vast development opportunities but limited knowledge of the environment to inform decision making. This region has globally significant seagrass habitat, supporting dugong, green turtle, and commercially important fish and prawns. However, knowledge about seagrass habitats for extensive areas of the coast is limited - data is patchy or not freely available, few large-scale mapping surveys have been conducted, and even fewer seagrass long-term monitoring programs exist. This project will address these problems by: 1. Mapping selected benthic habitats, with a focus on seagrass, using methods consistent with previous and ongoing surveys in northern Australia. 2. Establishing a benchmark of seagrass habitats for Traditional Owners, Indigenous communities, rangers, management agencies, ports, industry, and researchers to assess change. 3. Partnering with management agencies and ranger groups to co-design mapping and monitoring methods in remote areas that use new technology such as drones. 4. Compiling and synthesizing historical seagrass data into a publicly available spatial database to create a permanent record. 5. Interpreting and reporting on survey findings, including providing advice on options for establishing monitoring programs.
Date
01 Feb 2023 - 02 Jun 2026
Project Type
GRANT
Keywords
Seagrass;Benthic Habitat;Spatial data;Northern Australia;Sea Country
Funding Body
Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment
Amount
988773
Project Team
Catherine Collier