Coastal habitat protection for the eastern Cape

The Communities and coastal habitats of eastern Cape York will benefit from the Australian Government’s Reef Trust funded, Catchments to Coral program. Running from 2021–2023, the project will invest in a broad range of activities that focus on improving the health and resilience of eastern Cape York catchments and coastal ecosystems.

David Preece, Coastal Ecosystems Coordinator, said “Previous Great Barrier Reef programs have focussed purely on improving water quality, but over the next three years (2021-2023) we will be tackling the big issues facing coastal ecosystems and wetlands across eastern Cape York.

“The activities delivered by the project will be decided by local land managers and could include weed and feral animal management, fire management, threatened species protection, reduction in visitor impact, control of stock access, and the destocking of unmanaged cattle.”

The program, administered by Cape York NRM, is getting underway by engaging eastern Cape York land managers, developing a prioritisation framework of program activities, establishing an expert panel for project delivery, and will provide support and funding for communities to plan and implement projects.

Cape York land managers will be involved to identify the priority ecological values that they aspire to protect, and to support the implementation of strategic and targeted actions to reduce negative impacts on fragile ecosystems beyond the life of the program.

To discuss how you might become involved, contact David Preece, Cape York NRM Coastal Ecosystem Coordinator | 0418 464 487 | david.preece@capeyorknrm.com.au

This project is funded by the Australian Government