Mangroves in the Northern Territory - Department of Land Resource ...

Community Mangrove Monitoring Program
2002 saw the completion of the joint Commonwealth and NT Government Community
Mangrove Monitoring Program. The objectives of this program were to determine the impacts of
coastal development on mangrove communities in the Darwin region. Over 880 community
members were directly involved in the mangrove survey work, as a consequence education and
awareness was considered to be a major achievement of the project (Lewis 2002).
Northern Territory Mangrove Education Kit
As part of the above program, a rubbish
survey was developed through the National
Revive our Wetlands Program. The survey
involved volunteers collecting and assessing
rubbish accumulated in mangroves at six sites
in three different catchments. The most
dominant form of rubbish was aluminium
cans, followed by plastic bottles and bags
(Lewis 2002).
Plate 66: Litter collection
Northern Territory University / Government Projects
The Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment; and the Department of Business
Industry and Resource Development, in conjunction with the Northern Territory University
support post-graduate studies involving mangroves. Past and present projects include:
• analysis of links between mangrove
communities and fish population and
ecology;
• establishing the role of Sesarmid crabs
in mangrove leaf litter breakdown;
• establishing links between insects and
mangroves;
• description of the biological diversity
of mangroves;
• studies pertaining to the recovery of
mangroves from disturbance;
• studies pertaining to mangrove
rehabilitation; and
• mud crab habitat analysis.
Plate 67: DIPE workers monitoring mangrove health
32