Protecting valuable shoreline mangroves of northern Australia
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