Capricornia Catchments partnered with Tangaroa Blue through the ReefClean Program along with Livingstone Shire Council to engage local artists Martin Schlick from Mash Designs and emerging artist Rebecca Johnston to create educational murals for the Causeway Lake Buildings.
The murals aim at reducing fishing tackle pollution at Causeway Lake. With help from BirdLife Capricornia, these murals highlight the significant, rare, and sensitive wildlife that relies on the area and the impact litter and fishing tackle litter has on wildlife.
In conjunction with the artwork, several clean-ups in the area were undertaken to collect data and monitor the effectiveness of the mural on users’ litter behaviour.
Results show that there has been a significant reduction in litter and marine debris volume. Fishing tackle specific litter has reduced by 80% and general litter showed a major decrease of 49% overall.
Capricornia Catchments also received anecdotal feedback from community members saying that they have noticed a positive difference in the cleanliness of the Causeway Lake recreational area.
Overall successful results in reducing litter at the Causeway Lake recreational area through the combination of artwork, collaboration and community involvement. However, ongoing work is still needed in the area.
This project would not have been possible without the ongoing support from Livingstone Shire Council, the Regional Artist Development Fund, Tangaroa Blue Foundation and ReefClean.
ReefClean is funded by the Australian Governments Reef Trust and delivered by Tangaroa Blue Foundation.
