NESP Marine and Coastal Hub (2023). Partnerships for seagrass research and protection. Project 3.5 Information sheet. Reef and Rainforest Research Centre, Cairns, Queensland.
Overview
Northern Australian seagrass meadows support dugongs, green turtles, fish, prawns and other important species. Understanding their distribution and health now, and over time, is essential so regional planners have information to make the right decisions about community activities and economic development.
Unfortunately, for large areas of the coast, data on these important habitats is lacking. Few large-scale surveys have been done, and only a handful of ongoing seagrass monitoring programs exist.
Presently, regional planning often proceeds without accurate seagrass information, and therefore, with very minimal understanding of potential effects on these critically important ecosystems.
This project addresses gaps in seagrass knowledge by consolidating existing data, identifying the gaps, producing new data sets, and making data more widely available.
