NESP MaC Project 3.5 – Supporting regional planning in northern Australia: Building knowledge, skills and partnerships for understanding seagrass distribution, 2023-2026 (JCU, CDU, ECU)

Research Project

Researchers: Alex Carter (Principal investigator) ,  Catherine Collier (Principal investigator) ,  Kathryn McMahon (Principal investigator) ,  Rachel Groom (Principal investigator) ,  Lawrey, Eric, Dr. (Point of contact)
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Brief description This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub study - Project 3.5 – Supporting regional planning in northern Australia: Building knowledge, skills and partnerships for understanding seagrass distribution. For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. Northern Australia has vast development opportunities but limited knowledge of the environment to inform decision making. This region has globally significant seagrass habitat, supporting dugong, green turtle, and commercially important fish and prawns. Key to managing impacts to species in these habitats is reliable data on seagrass distribution and how this changes over time. Achieving this requires large-scale mapping and a ranger-led monitoring network in remote communities. This project will map seagrass habitats across northern Australia through targeted mapping expeditions in data deficient regions. It will strengthen relationships with coastal communities, build-on existing knowledges and skills, co-design training resources with rangers to undertake monitoring, trial new technologies for monitoring, and synthesise historical and new seagrass data into an open access resource. Planned Outputs • Spatial GIS datasets [seagrass surveys] • Synthesised historical compilation [spatial dataset] • Final technical report with analysed data and a short summary of recommendations for policy makers of key findings [written]

Notes Credit
Alex Cater (JCU), Catherine Collier (JCU), Rachel Groom (CDU), Katheryn McMahon (ECU), Lloyd Shepherd (JCU)

Notes Credit
National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine and Coastal Hub

Notes Credit
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), Australian Government

Notes Credit
In addition to NESP (DCCEEW) funding, this project is matched by an equivalent amount of in-kind support and co-investment from project partners and collaborators.

Notes Purpose
Project Aims and Objectives: 1. Mapping selected benthic habitats, with a focus on seagrass, using methods consistent with previous and ongoing surveys in northern Australia. 2. Establishing a benchmark of seagrass habitats for Traditional Owners, Indigenous communities, rangers, management agencies, ports, industry, and researchers to assess change. 3. Partnering with management agencies and ranger groups to co-design mapping and monitoring methods in remote areas that utilise novel technology such as drones. 4. Compiling and synthesizing historical seagrass data into a publicly available spatial database (eAtlas) to create a permanent record. 5. Interpreting and reporting on survey findings, including providing advice on options for establishing monitoring programs.

Data time period: 2023-02-01 to 2026-06-02

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