Moreton Bay Marine Park is located on the eastern coast of Australia having the surface area of 3400km2 and consists of several islands including Moreton Island, Bribie Island, North and South Stradbroke Island. Moreton bay Marine Park was first established in 1993 to protect the high biodiversity and unique environment whilst still allowing recreational use of the Bay (Department of National Parks, Sports and Racing, 2017). North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah), is one of the islands situated inside the Moreton Bay Marine Park which covers an area of 275.2km2 consisting mostly of sand making it the second largest sand island in the world. Although the entirety of the surface area being sand, the Island displays many diverse habitats, each
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There is an ever-growing pressure being placed upon the mangroves in Australia as over 80% of Australia’s population live within 50km of the coast. Land is becoming more in demand and because people aren’t well educated about the benefits of mangroves on the biodiversity of the world, the immediate reaction is to rid the mangroves to make room for construction to cater for the increasing population. The quality and productivity of mangroves are also being affected by the increase on human activity, and when mangroves are lost or disrupted then their ecological and economic functions cease. The most obvious affects from the lack of mangroves would be, the loss of nurseries for fish to grow, increased salinity on the coast and in water supplies, and an increase in coastal damage from natural disasters (Burnett Mary Regional Group for Natural Resource Management Ltd, 2017). Over the course of 200 years approximately 17% of all of Australia’s mangroves have been destroyed and this loss of mangrove habitat has had a direct impact on the functionality as a viable ecosystem.
The best approach to help fix and prevent the issues of loss of mangroves is to use the concept of Community-based Ecological Mangrove Restoration (CBEMR), this restoration process is based upon the fact that mangrove forests self-repair. Therefore CMBER will primarily focus on the re-establishment of the hydrology that will facilitate this natural regeneration
There is an ever-growing pressure being placed upon the mangroves in Australia as over 80% of Australia’s population live within 50km of the coast. Land is becoming more in demand and because people aren’t well educated about the benefits of mangroves on the biodiversity of the world, the immediate reaction is to rid the mangroves to make room for construction to cater for the increasing population. The quality and productivity of mangroves are also being affected by the increase on human activity, and when mangroves are lost or disrupted then their ecological and economic functions cease. The most obvious affects from the lack of mangroves would be, the loss of nurseries for fish to grow, increased salinity on the coast and in water supplies, and an increase in coastal damage from natural disasters (Burnett Mary Regional Group for Natural Resource Management Ltd, 2017). Over the course of 200 years approximately 17% of all of Australia’s mangroves have been destroyed and this loss of mangrove habitat has had a direct impact on the functionality as a viable ecosystem.
The best approach to help fix and prevent the issues of loss of mangroves is to use the concept of Community-based Ecological Mangrove Restoration (CBEMR), this restoration process is based upon the fact that mangrove forests self-repair. Therefore CMBER will primarily focus on the re-establishment of the hydrology that will facilitate this natural regeneration