The network of ports operated by Ports North includes some of the most remote wharves and jetties in Australia, and they provide services that are vital to sustaining the people and economic activities of our region.

The organisation is committed to understanding and minimising any potential environmental impacts of their operations, and their environmental management system focuses on both regulatory requirements and improving performance through the implementation of best practice environmental management measures and effective community and stakeholder consultation.

Ports North support and engage in a range of monitoring projects to understand the physical, biological, and cultural attributes of the areas surrounding their ports.

These include:

• Long term Seagrass monitoring, in partnership with TropWATER at James Cook University, across the ports of Cairns, Mourilyan, Karumba, and Thursday Island
• Sediment Quality Analysis
• Water Quality Sampling
• Facilitation of biosecurity and marine pest monitoring
• Study of Benthic communities

Ports North also works closely with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and other environmental agencies. In addition to being a Wet Tropics Waterways partner, they are a member of the Reef 2020 Advisory Committee and the Local Marine Advisory Committees.