Activities are full speed ahead in the Great Barrier Reef region with the purpose of protecting and preserving this natural wonder. Tangaroa Blue Foundation has put together an ambitious suite of services that, with help from our many AMDI partners, aims to reduce marine debris, raise awareness, identify the sources of debris, and drive behaviour change.
These activities include:
Community Clean-up Events – 16 clean-up events have been completed with an additional two to be held later this month.
Site Monitoring – 34 site monitoring events have been held since January, with an additional 33 to be held this month. The purpose of the monitoring sites is to quantify the volume of marine debris in priority areas, classify the types of marine debris, and identify the source. In addition, a helicopter survey was made between the tip of Cape York and Cairns in early May to help identify the impact of extreme weather events like cyclones, and monitor areas that are inaccessible by road or boat.
School & Community Engagement Activities – 11 schools participated in ReefClean activities through the GBRMPA’s Future Leaders Eco Challenge events, with another 2 educational events to occur later this month. In addition, presentations have been made to 12 Local Marine Advisory Committees to keep them in the loop with our activities in their regions.
Community Source Reduction Plan Workshops – 3 Source Reduction Plan workshops (SRPs) have been held in Port Douglas, Townsville and Cooktown, with an additional 3 to happen this month in Bowen, Airlie Beach, and Yarrabah. Using data collected from clean-up activities and entered into the AMDI Database, SRPs will target marine debris at its source. They are developed collaboratively with the community, government and industry partners to form a key part of education and awareness activities aimed at driving behavioural changes and promoting the development of new technologies to minimise waste production.
We are thankful for our wonderful partners, mentioned below who have helped us achieve all this in such a short amount of time. We are also grateful for the Councils, NRM representatives, schools and other organisations that work with us to make these events happen.
If you’d like to get involved in some of these activities, please visit our events calendar for more information.
ReefClean is funded by the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and delivered by Tangaroa Blue Foundation with support from partners: Conservation Volunteers Australia, Reef Check Australia, OceanWatch Australia, Ocean Crusaders, Eco Barge Clean Seas, AUSMAP, South Cape York Catchments, Capricornia Catchments and Think Spatial.