Project Delivery

Wetlands Not Wastelands

Burketown / Normanton

Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland

AUSTRALIA

PROJECT PARTNERS

Project Delivery

Wetlands Not Wastelands

Burketown / Normanton

Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland

AUSTRALIA

The Challenge

Marine debris and ghost gear impacts coastal regions in the Gulf of Carpentria including ghost gear and single-use plastics. As part of the caring for country, Land and Sea Rangers run regular coastal cleanups to remove tonnes of marine debris from rivers and beaches, in an effort to protect habitats including turtle nesting grounds and vital marine life habitats. These marine debris cleanups regularly bring in over 5 tons of materials a year, however the disposal of this material in local landfills was a serious concern for remote communities. The floodplains of the extensive southern gulf region meant that in the rainy season materials in dump sites could easily flow back into the river systems, these communities want to reduce the landfill volume and keep the waterways clean.

Solution

In 2020, Plastic Collective (PC) received an environmental grant from Coca-Cola Australia Foundation with partners with Earthwatch Australia (EW) and the Carpentaria Land Council Aboriginal Corporation (CLCAC) to develop and deliver a project in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria. This project called ‘Wetlands Not Wastelands’ focused on mangrove health and addressing plastic pollution. After two years of Covid lockdown delays, PC delivered the final stage of an Indigenous Recycling Centre in the in Burketown and Normanton in August, 2022. PC was responsible for training over 20 Indigenous Land and Sea Rangers in the identification and sorting of marine debris and household plastics, and safe processing through granulating and baling to produce saleable materials. While, Earthwatch Australia trained the Rangers in mangrove and saltmarsh identification, and surveys which included marine debris transects and monitoring the health of the mangroves after the largest die-back of mangroves was witnessed in the Southern Gulf region a number of years ago.