Tangaroa Blue

Staff Member

  • YEAR: 2018
  • STATE: National
  • FOCUS AREAS: Healing our Land/SDG 14 : Life below water

The Australian Marine Debris Database was created to enable volunteers and organisations who run beach clean-up events to also collect data on what they are finding with a consistent methodology, so it can be collated into a standardised national database on marine debris.

Since 2004 more than 11 million pieces of data have been entered into the database, creating a comprehensive overview of what amounts and types of marine debris are impacting beaches around Australia. // FNPW funding will enable Tangaroa Blue to further analyse the extensive Australian Marine Debris Database, and work closely with communities, industry and government to address the problem of marine debris, through the creation of source reduction plans.

Project overview

Building our capacity within our AMDI project officers has enabled us to work with community members and partners in the development, implementation and monitoring of source reduction plan projects in areas around Australia. This has included providing training for volunteers in how to collect data during their local clean-up activities, how to then use this data to identify items impacting their local environment, and finally how to create, implement and monitor projects that stop the release of those items into the environment in the first place.

This has included the following actions since our last progress report in Jan 2019: Data collection support and training at the Phillip Island Clean-up event, facilitation of the MidCoast Plastic Pollution Working Group meetings, coordination and facilitation of the 2019 Hunter Marine Debris Community Workshop, attendance and contribution to the QLD Government Educators Workshop, attendance and training at the Airlie Beach Citizen Science Workshop, facilitation of a data collection and SRP workshop in Gladstone, a collaboration between Coles and Woolworths to address loading dock litter, and collaboration with volunteers on a community led single-use plastic reduction plan in Melbourne.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

FNPW supports projects across Australia. In the spirit of reconciliation we acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture.

2019 Hunter Regional Marine Debris Workshop

PROGRESS OF THIS PROJECT

The project was completed in 2019.

This project was funded by FNPW in 2018.

Dugong Fish - Grants for Nature Conservation - FNPW

PROJECT PARTNERS

The Tangaroa Blue Foundation is the lead organisation for this project.

Further information about our project partner can be found on their website:

www.tangaroablue.org

Latest news on this project.

Partnering With Tangaroa Blue To Reduce Marine Debris

Marine debris and plastic pollution come from a wide range of sources, so each item collected needs to be specifically addressed through data, tracking, and relevant stakeholder engagement.

The Australian Marine Debris Initiative looks at this data at a local government/regional scale to first identify the types of marine debris impacting the local environment, and then to find practical solutions to prevent the loss of these items into the environment in the first place. These source reduction plans reduce the amount of litter and rubbish entering our freshwater and saltwater environment, conserving both land and water through a healthier environment.

Funding from FNPW has enabled our marine conservation partner Tangoroa Blue to appoint a dedicated Source Reduction Project Officer to engage with communities around Australia on a range of marine conservation initiatives, including:

1) facilitation of Plastic Pollution Working Group meetings to develop source reduction projects for Browns Creek and Pennington Creek in the NSW MidCoast LGA.
2) Coordination of two Northern Rivers clean-up and data collection activities to raise awareness of the marine debris issue through engagement of an artist in residence who uses recycled materials for art installations.
3) Providing support to the Warrnambool community in Victoria who have collected data to set up two source reduction plan projects.
4) Developing and building a new Source Reduction Plan Database for communities that want to find out how other projects have reduced particular items from becoming litter and marine debris.

Related Projects

NSW Jungurra (Cook Island) Project

This project is designed to empower local Aboriginal Youth to participate in achieving outcomes of the NSW Marine Estate Management Strategy. The information gathered will support a better understanding and strengthened management of biodiversity within the aquatic reserve.

Manly Little Penguins

FNPW funds the Manly Little Penguin Program to manage this endangered population. Funds go towards monitoring of the Little Penguin population, provision of resources for volunteers and education activities.

Little Penguins

The Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor) is the smallest species of penguin in the world, with an average height of just 33 cms. They are found only on the southern coastlines of Australia and New Zealand. Populations of Little Penguins are facing serious decline. On Granite Island in South Australia, numbers have fallen from 1548 in 2001 to just 22 in 2015.