The NAILSMA Dugong and Marine Turtle Project
(DMTP) is ongoing in the Kimberley, Top End of the Northern
Territory, Gulf of Carpentaria, Cape York and the Torres
Strait. Project partners in these regions have been busy
working with participating communities in developing and delivering
management activity plans for their regions.
Project leader: Libby Larsen
The Northern Land Council is supporting the Dugong and Marine
Turtle project in two regions within the Northern Territory. They
are the Yolngu communities of north-east Arnhem Land associated
with the Dhimurru Land Management Aboriginal Corporation, and the
Yanyuwa communities in the south-west Gulf of Carpentaria
associated with the li-Anthawirriyarra Sea Rangers.
The Dhimurru Sea Ranger Unit is involved in regular turtle
monitoring activities, as well as protecting nesting habitats from
feral pigs and participating in beach clean ups.
Balupalu Yunupingu (Senior Sea Country Ranger) is oversees the
DMTP in this region. He has also been closely involved in
developing and implementing the Dhimurru Sea Country Plan, which
was launched at the Garma festival in August 2006. The Sea
Country Plan includes a shared cooperation agreement between
community, government and non-government agencies working for sea
country in the north-eastern Arnhem Land region. Their turtle and
dugong project Regional Activity Plan is incorporated into
Dhimurru’s Sea Country Plan so that it is integrated as part
of the bigger picture for sea country management.
A turtle recovery project is ongoing under Dhimurru’s Sea
Country Plan and involves dry-season beach surveys by the rangers
to rescue turtles caught in ghost nets (disused and abandoned
fishing nets) and other marine debris.
In 2005, 78 turtles were found — 56 of which were
still alive and released back into the ocean. With funding
from the Department of Environment and Heritage, in 2007, Dhimurru,
NAILSMA and researchers from Charles Darwin University will work
together to monitor the movements and survival of post-release
turtles using satellite transmitters and tracking. In
addition to this, Dhimurru has purchased a new sea ranger vessel
that will be used to map seagrass beds for a better understanding
of turtle nesting grounds.
li-Anthawirriyarra rangers
The li-Anthawirriyarra rangers are involved in a range of
monitoring activities across the east coast of the Northern
Territory (specifically the Borroloola region). Steve Johnson was
recently appointed as the Sea Ranger Coordinator (replacing
Felicity Chapman) and will oversee the activity plan for this
region. Activities include carrying out beach and boat patrols to
count turtle tracks and dugong sightings, recording hunting data
from community members and observing the movements and impacts of
tourist boats in the region.
Turtle-tagging initiatives are also underway. Rangers keep a
record of when and where tagged turtles are sighted each year. They
are particularly interested in finding out what causes unnatural
turtle deaths, such as entanglement in ghost nets, tourism and
toxic poisoning.
The li-Anthawirriyarra Sea Rangers have a good track record of
working with other organizations. The Sea Rangers have
developed strong working relationships with the World Wildlife Fund
(WWF) in collecting satellite tracking data on the daily movements
and migratory patterns of marine turtles.
