10 June 2020

Since the unprecedented mangrove dieback in 2015, James Cook University’s Dr Norm Duke has been leading a multi-Hub NESP project assessing the mangrove dieback in the Gulf of Carpentaria and whether recovery is occurring.

The sheer scale of the Gulf of Carpentaria coastline means that regular monitoring is a challenge. Through this project, Dr Duke has aerially surveyed 2,633km of Gulf coastline, but ongoing monitoring is critical to understanding mangrove recovery and identifying other unusual dieback events.

 

Carpentaria Land Council Aboriginal Corporation Rangers MangroveWatching on the Norman River, photo MangroveWatch.

To support this, the research team has produced a guide for Indigenous ranger groups along the northern Australian coastline to monitor mangrove condition using the MangroveWatch standardised shoreline assessment method. This guide establishes all the components and equipment settings so that groups can contribute standardised data to improve understanding of large-scale patterns in the Gulf’s important ecosystems.

This work has also been supported by the Earth Systems and Climate Change Hub, the Marine Biodiversity Hub, and the Tropical Water Quality Hub.