New partnership network helps to protect Australian mangroves and saltmarsh.

MangroveWatch and the new Australian Mangrove and Saltmarsh Network are helping to link communities and promote information sharing to improve monitoring and management of coastal habitats

Sun exposure, nest temperature and loggerhead turtle hatchlings: Implications for beach shading management strategies at sea turtle rookeries

Sea turtle incubation biology is tightly linked to nest thermal conditions due to the effect temperature has on hatching success, sex determination, morphology and locomotion performance. Because of this relationship between nest temperature and hatchling outcomes, global warming presents an immediate threat to many sea turtle nesting beaches throughout the world. Even small rises in nest temperatures may skew sex ratios and, raise egg mortality and influence hatchling phenotypes adversely, impacting on hatchling recruitment and ultimately species survival at some rookeries. The development of adaptive management practices capable of minimizing the effects of increasing global temperature on nest temperatures is thus a priority for animals exhibiting temperature-dependent sex-determination, such as sea turtles. Here, the relationship between solar radiation exposure and nest temperatures at the Mon Repos turtle rookery, south east Queensland, Australia was explored and the relationship between nest temperature and hatchling attributes examined. Shading decreased nest temperature, and higher nest temperatures were associated with smaller sized hatchlings that had decreased locomotion performance. The use of shading to minimize nest temperature is a management strategy that may be used to mitigate detrimental effects of increased global temperatures at some rookeries. Here, we explored the viability of natural shading options, such as the planting of trees behind nesting beaches, for combating the adverse effect of increased nest temperature caused by increased air temperatures

The Shoreline Video Assessment Method (S-VAM): using dynamic hyperlapse image acquisition to evaluate shoreline mangrove forest structure, values, degradation and threats

Climate change with human direct pressures represent significant threats to the resilience of shoreline habitats like mangroves. A rapid, whole-of-system assessment strategy is needed to evaluate such threats, better linking innovative remote sensing with essential on-ground evaluations. Using the Shoreline Video Assessment Method, we surveyed around 190 km of the mostly mangrove-fringed (78%) coastline of Kien Giang Province, Vietnam. The aim was to identify anthropogenic drivers of degradation, establishing baseline for specific rehabilitation and protection strategies. Fish traps occupy at least 87% of shoreline mangroves, around which there were abundant human activities – like fishing, crabbing, farming, plus collecting firewood and foliage. Such livelihoods were associated with remnant, fringing mangrove that were largely degraded and threatened by erosion retreat, herbivory, and excessive cutting. Our assessment quantified associated threats to shoreline stability, along with previous rehabilitation intervention measures. The method offers key opportunities for effective conservation and management of vulnerable shoreline habitats

Sport fisheries: opportunities and challenges for diversifying coastal livelihoods in the Pacific

High population growth rates and poverty are likely to elevate the vulnerability of many coastal communities in the Pacific region to climate change. Alternative livelihood strategies which can generate income and simultaneously conserve fish stocks and their habitats are a priority. This paper investigates the feasibility of 'sport fishing' (recreational catch and release angling for particular species of predatory game fish) as such a strategy. The limited research of sport fisheries in developing countries is augmented with a review of community-based ecotourism, integrated conservation and development projects (ICDPs) and common property management literature to propose design principles. Five prerequisite principles for the success of sport fishery enterprises are suggested. First, adequate local capacity must be available to manage a tourism business and facilities, supported by cross-scale co-management amongst stakeholders. Second, appropriate governance arrangements must be in place to ensure the equitable dispersal of benefits to all members of the local community, and conflict resolution. Third, resource-ownership boundaries and rights must be clearly delineated before the enterprise begins in order to minimise the potential for future conflict. Fourth, social, biodiversity and ecosystem service co-benefits should result from the enterprise. These should include improvements in income, health, education, food security, the status of the target and non-target species and their habitat and non-fishery ecosystem services. Fifth, monitoring and evaluation of these principles is required within an adaptive co-management framework which takes a social–ecological systems approach and includes all stakeholders in social learning and power-sharing. Through this, broader impacts of the enterprise may emerge which go beyond the standard assessment of ecotourism and ICDP success in financial or biodiversity terms. These principles now need to be tested by researching the experiences of case studies of sport fishing enterprises in the Pacific

MangroveWatch Burnett Mary region is one year old! Outcomes and lessons learned

MangroveWatch Burnett Mary Region has successfully completed its first year and established itself as a powerful community driven environmental monitoring method with outcomes relevant to our scientific understanding, improved management of tidal wetlands, and climate change adaptation. Here we outline the role of MangroveWatch, how it works, and why it works

Stewardship as a driver for environmental improvement in Moreton Bay

Individuals and communities care for South East Queensland’s waterways in a wide variety of ways. Stewardship began with Indigenous peoples who have cared for lands, species and waterways for many thousands of years. In South East Queensland there are now more than 500 community groups which volunteer their time and effort to manage and protect our waterways. These include Traditional Owners, Landcare, Coastcare, Bushcare, catchment management organisations, citizen science monitoring groups, non-government organisations and environmental education groups. They are collectively coordinated through collaborative organisations such as Healthy Land and Water, and are supported by their state and local governments and other partners. They contribute enormous effort, passion and awareness raising to restoring and improving waterway systems. Landholders and industry, applying best management practices in their production and land management systems, and individuals taking their own initiatives and offering leadership, are equally stewards of our waterways. This paper presents an overview of the development of stewardship activity in South East Queensland, and discusses enabling conditions, pressures and drivers, and the changing face of the many types of waterway stewardship across the region. Brief case studies illustrate the variety of initiatives and their achievements. The paper concludes with a summary of achievements in the face of declining environmental conditions, and canvasses the information needs, actions and directions put in place to meet the challenges the region faces in the future