Protecting valuable shoreline mangroves of northern Australia

Department of Climate Change, Environment, Energy and Water (DCCEEW), James Cook University
Role

Collaborator

Description

The mass death (~80 km2) and dieback of shoreline mangroves around the Gulf of Carpentaria (GOC) and across northern Australia in 1982 and 2015 was a wake-up call to the vulnerability and immense importance of marine coastal ecosystems like mangroves. It is essential that we better understand the circumstances surrounding such catastrophic events, the environmental triggers identified, and what we might do to restore the damage while also preventing future occurrences. In response to the 2015 mass dieback event (the world’s largest such recorded event), the NESP commissioned an Emerging Priority project that utilised aerial surveys to assess the extent of the dieback along the entire Gulf of Carpentaria coastline. It is proposed to resurvey GOC shorelines for their current condition whilst taking the opportunity further to devise a well-considered and fully costed rapid response plan that will include innovative preventative management outcomes for the longer-term sustainability of these threatened but highly valued coastal marine ecosystems of northern Australia.

Date

01 Feb 2024 - 11 Dec 2026

Project Type

GRANT

Keywords

Tidal wetlands;Mangroves;Northern Australia;Impact assessment;environmental monitoring

Funding Body

Department of Climate Change, Environment, Energy and Water (DCCEEW), James Cook University

Amount

499240

Project Team

Norm Duke;Adam Canning