News edition for 31 July 2026. Added to Nungya on 22 October 2026 as part of our retrospective news archive. Reporting reflects information available by the edition date.
Under the surface, seagrass supports dugongs, turtles, fish and much more. A new toolkit places practical monitoring resources in the hands of the Indigenous Rangers who care for those habitats.
The Marine and Coastal Hub announced the guides on 31 July. Co-designed by Rangers and researchers, they include videos and manuals for monitoring tropical seagrass meadows across northern Australia.
Partners include Karajarri Traditional Lands Association in Western Australia, Namultja Aboriginal Corporation in the Northern Territory, Torres Strait Regional Authority and Girringun Aboriginal Corporation in Queensland. Researchers from James Cook University, Charles Darwin University and Edith Cowan University also contributed.
Using consistent methods allows observations from different places to be compared over time. The project connects that scientific approach with local knowledge and the cultural reasons each group cares for its Sea Country.
The guides arrive amid pressure from extreme weather, coastal development and a changing climate. Monitoring helps document what is present, what has changed and where recovery needs to be tracked. The project’s regional examples also show why one coastline’s experience cannot simply stand in for every other place.
The training materials are available through the research project’s website.
