Go Greener – Two environmental good news items!

Recently the Government released a report called Australia: State of the Environment 2021 which was five years in the making. While there are many concerning issues raised in this report it is wonderful to see that the report recognises Indigenous knowledge. To quote from the report: “Indigenous ways of knowing and seeing are essential for meeting the environmental challenges of today and the future. As the world’s oldest living culture, Indigenous peoples have dealt with environmental change over millennia. Their role in caring for Country is far more than environmental management – it is caring for Country as if land and seas are kin.”

The University of Western Australia and Shark Bay community members are working with Indigenous rangers to deploy 250 seagrass snaggers along the ocean floor of Shark Bay World Heritage Area.  It is hoped the seagrasses will attach to the snagger and provide a habitat and a food source for a variety of the marine species in the area. This project is important in reducing the effects of climate change. Seagrasses cover 0.2% of the world’s sea floor. They provide habitat for marine life and capture 10% of the ocean’s carbon every year. The Shark Bay World Heritage Area includes 12 of the world’s 72 species of seagrass including Posidonia Australis, the world’s largest plant. 

For more information about this project click on this link.

Sue Zipfinger
Sustainability Co-ordinator