Dr Norman Duke from the 宅男导航 School of Biological Sciences is a world mangrove expert and Director of MangroveWatch.
Next week the Burnett Mary region鈥檚 MangroveWatch organisation will mark its first birthday with a weekend of public regional workshops highlighting the achievements and results of the programme.
Four workshops will be held across Hervey Bay, Bundaberg, Burrum River and Tin Can Bay from June 4-6.
Local participants and supporters are invited to hear how their passionate support for the program has generated real scientific data on the health of their local estuaries and coasts.
Dr Duke says he has been overwhelmed with interest and offers to join MangroveWatch.
鈥淲e have active participation of 76 residents and 13 affiliated organisations including conservationists and natural resource managers," he said.
鈥淭he team has monitored more than 163 km of coastal waterways from Bundaberg to Tin Can Bay and has recorded over 30 hours of video evidence in its first year of operations.
The video evidence is sent to 宅男导航 to be evaluated by researchers who assess the health of the mangroves for condition indicators such as vegetative condition, erosion and other signs of natural and human damage to measure the overall health of each surveyed estuary or coastline.
The health of each area is measured and will be monitored in coming years.
鈥淭he project model is a success and MangroveWatch will soon be expanding across Australia due to keen interest from other regional communities to host their own MangroveWatch programs,鈥� Dr Duke said.
Tim Thornton from Friends of the Burrum River Group, said: 鈥淚 have been involved in other environmental projects, but many of them required scientific knowledge, which not all community members are familiar with.
"This project involves easy methods and offers a very explicit way of presenting useful results," Mr Thornton said.
Some of the commendable individual efforts include:
鈥� Terry Kelly from the Burnett Heads Rate Payer Association has successfully campaigned to set aside 903ha on Barubbra Island for a new Conservation Park;
鈥� Tim Thornton is re-planting mangroves along the Burrum River;
鈥� Lindsay Titmarsh, from Tandora Station at the mouth of the Mary River, has been on the hunt for older mangrove trees after discovering a 700yr old specimen; and
鈥� Carolyn Bussey has been snapping photos of increased erosion at the mouth of the Burrum River.
This Caring for Our Country-funded initiative has enhanced local awareness of mangrove ecosystems.
A new website to be launched soon -mangrovewatch.org.au - will include a resource centre, a forum for groups to communicate, and all the latest results.
To participate in the regional workshops email mangrovewatch@gmail.com or to join MangroveWatch visit
