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Healthy waterways underpin our lifestyles and livelihoods. When waterways thrive, so do we.
A group of committed citizen scientists is keeping tabs on a lesser known coastal ecosystem, and developing a new appreciation for saltmarsh.
Saltmarsh is something we’ve likely all seen but maybe not recognised. Found on the landward side of mangroves, saltmarsh is flat and often swampy and if healthy, will be covered in salt-tolerant native grasses, shrubs and sedges. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for it to be a dumping ground for rubbish, whitegoods and car bodies.
Similar to mangroves, saltmarsh helps stop erosion, stores and sequesters carbon (quickly and in large amounts) and provides important habitat and nursery grounds. They’re also a fragile ecosystem. Saltmarsh didn’t take up a big area even before colonisation, and now is under pressure from climate change, coastal development, illegal dumping and pollution.
Getting a grasp on how it’s they’re doing is the first step in working out how best to help it them – and that’s exactly what’s happening through an environmental health monitoring program coordinated by the Cairns and Far North Environment Centre (CAFNEC).
MangroveWatch harnesses the power of citizen science to protect and preserve mangrove and saltmarsh habitats. Since 2017, CAFNEC has been working with local communities to fill an important monitoring gap and track how tidal ecosystems are faring. The program has expanded to regularly monitor eight estuaries and the goal is to include all estuaries in the Wet Tropics region.
Monitoring runs from April to October. It includes land-based saltmarsh monitoring and shoreline mangrove assessments from boats. The data is crunched by scientists and given back to community stakeholders and decision makers to help them lobby for investment in tidal habitats.
Since the Far Northern chapter of MangroveWatch began, more than 400 people have been trained and together they’ve put in 1400 volunteer hours.
Volunteer Shannon Bredeson says she has a newfound appreciation for saltmarsh.
“I’ve learned through hands-on experience. Opportunities like MangroveWatch show you how simple it is to get involved and have an impact. I think people sometimes think that the ‘experts’ are taking care of things, or that to be involved you need a degree. When it comes to looking after coastal ecosystems, the community can play an active and much-needed role.”
The Cairns and Far North Environment Centre’s Mangrove Watch project (2019-2021) has received funding from the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation; from Terrain NRM’s Natural Capital Fund; and support from MangroveWatch, Earthwatch Australia, Great Barrier Reef Legacy, South Cape York Catchments, and Dawul Wuru Aboriginal Corporation.
The newest round of funding from the Great Barrier Reef Foundations Citizen Science for Change Grants has enabled CAFNEC to form partnerships with Girringun Aboriginal Corporation, Wanyurr Majay Aboriginal Corporation, Holloways Beach Coastcare, Mulgrave Landcare, and Johnstone Water and Landcare to continue monitoring and enhance organisational capacity between now and 2024.
Capture the beauty of our local waterways for your chance to win awesome prizes.
Road upgrades to tree planting and improvements to sewers, local Councils are leading the way
More than 200 species of jellyfish are found along the Great Barrier Reef.
Simon has over 30 years’ experience advocating for waterways across academia, government and the private sector. He started out in marine botany with a fascination for seagrass, mangroves and macroalgae, and has gone on to lead major environmental initiatives both in Australia and overseas. He has established report cards in eight countries.
Martine joined the Wet Tropics Waterways team as a Science Technical Officer in early 2024 and is keen to apply her experience in statistical programming and database development for the Report Card.
She is an environmental scientist and ecologist and has worked on water quality and aquatic ecology projects as a consultant and in private industry for over 20 years.
Martine has many hobbies and is currently dabbling in horticulture.
James joined Wet Tropics Waterways as Executive Officer in 2021 and is passionate about working with stakeholders to communicate the value of our unique waterways. His role involves facilitating and coordinating our partnership program, growing our network and investment into the report card program, and science communication. James oversaw the 2022 Innovations in Waterway Health Forum, and hosted season four of the Reef and Rivers podcast.
James is an ecologist and has previously worked on wetland management in the Murray Darling basin, fish passage in Mackay, and aquatic research in the Wet Tropics.
Outside of work you’ll find him in a local waterway with a mask and snorkel, or hiking or biking around our beautiful region.
Richard has been the Science Technical Officer for Wet Tropics Waterways since 2016. His role involves producing the annual results for the waterway health assessment of the wet tropics region using data from a wide range of sources, to present as scores and grades, as well as developing new indicators to address knowledge and monitoring gaps. He works in collaboration with technical staff at other regional report cards.
Richard has a background in freshwater ecology research projects and environmental assessments with CSIRO, University of Queensland, Queensland Government and as a consultant. For a long time he’s been interested in freshwater aquaculture and continues this interest through farming freshwater crayfish, alongside other farming activities.