Another successful mangrove watch year
Photo © WPSQMangrove Watch celebrates 12 months of community scientific mangrove monitoring.
Wildlife Queensland is coordinating and running a community scientific monitoring program with the help of the Port of Brisbane Corporation to keep track of the health of the mangroves in Moreton Bay.
Mr. Steve Homewood President for the Wildlife Queensland Bayside Branch said, 'Mangrove Watch currently has 43 volunteers made up of a wide cross-section of the community and includes office workers, students, as well as interested environmental professionals.'
'With volunteer support Mangrove Watch is able to monitor a range of mangrove communities from Bramble Bay to Victoria Point to Coochiemudlo Island', said Mr. Homewood.
Mr. Simon Baltais program manager for Mangrove Watch said, 'Volunteers are playing a valuable role in gathering baseline data that helps us better understand the health status of our Mangroves.'
'Mangroves form the basis of healthy fisheries and act as the kidneys for the Bay, they provide homes for wildlife and also act as an effective coastal defence in the event of extreme weather. It therefore makes good economic, social and environmental sense to watch over the health of mangroves.' said Mr. Baltais.
Mr. Homewood said, 'One of key reasons for the establishment of Mangrove Watch was to help understand and raise awareness about mangrove dieback that was occurring across Moreton Bay.'
'Sharing Wildlife Queensland's concerns about Mangrove Dieback, the Port of Brisbane Corporation provided funds to bring skilled staff in to train volunteers in simple but effective scientific monitoring techniques.' said Mr. Homewood.
Mr. Homewood said, 'We have just finished monitoring our Cleveland mangrove watch site for this year and all looks good at this site. However, if things start going wrong rest assured we will be one of the first to raise the alarm.'
Mr. Baltais said 'Community science is increasingly playing a major role in advancing our knowledge and our ability to manage our environment better. With the capability to deploy many people into the field all year round it makes good sense to involve the community in scientific programs.'
For more information on Wildlife Queensland's activities, call us on +61 7 3221 0194 or send us an email. |
