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From Community Monitoring to Environmental Decision-Making: MangroveWatch Reaches Another Major Milestone

31 March 2026

It's been a landmark year for Earthwatch Australia's MangroveWatch program. 

Following its recognition as a finalist in the 2026 Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Innovation in Citizen Science, MangroveWatch has reached another major milestone, with community-collected mangrove shoreline habitat data included in the Healthy Waters Partnership for the Dry Tropics - Townsville Dry Tropics Waterways Report Card for the first time.

Together, these achievements demonstrate how citizen science is evolving beyond community engagement to become an essential contributor to environmental management and decision-making. 

This year's Report Card introduced a new Shoreline Mangrove Condition indicator for the Ross Basin, using data collected through Earthwatch Australia's MangroveWatch program. Trained volunteers and the Port of Townsville surveyed Alligator Creek, the Bohle River, the lower Ross River and Magnetic Island using the MangroveWatch Shoreline Video Assessment Method (S-VAM), collecting information on mangrove habitat structure, canopy cover and shoreline impacts. 

The new data stream is helping build a clearer picture of mangrove health in the Ross Basin, complementing satellite imagery with detailed, on-the-ground observations of shoreline condition. These insights strengthened the Report Card's assessment of estuarine health, with habitat grades improving from moderate to good in both the Bohle and lower Ross River, and from good to very good on Magnetic Island. Overall, the Ross Basin maintained a good grade for mangrove and saltmarsh condition. The overall story is that mangroves in the Ross Basin appear to have high resilience, with limited impacts from recent record floods compared to mangroves in Wet Tropics estuaries - that's good news for mangroves and the Great Barrier Reef. 

Mangroves are an important link between land and sea, helping maintain and improve water quality on the Great Barrier Reef, protecting coastlines and providing habitat for fish and wildlife. By combining community-collected observations with satellite data, the Report Card offers a more complete understanding of these important ecosystems. 

Earthwatch Australia CEO Fiona Sutton Wilson said the milestone demonstrates the growing value of citizen science in environmental management. 

Tools like the Report Card are only as strong as the data behind them. Through MangroveWatch, our team supports trained local volunteers to observe estuarine shoreline habitat condition, extending monitoring into hard-to-access places and across timeframes. Our scientists then analyse the community-collected data and share it with the Healthy Waters Partnership for the Dry Tropics so that community observations are directly contributing to how these waterways are managed. 

Fiona highlights how the achievement ultimately belongs to the local community. 

What makes this work is the Townsville community itself. Every survey is someone choosing to spend time on their local creek or estuary and contribute to a shared picture of its health. That's environmental stewardship in action. The improved mangrove grades in the Bohle and Lower Ross estuaries show how that local knowledge and care helps protect these waterways over the long term.

The Report Card milestone follows another significant achievement for the program. Earlier this month, the MangroveWatch Local Action Plan model was named a finalist in the 2026 Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Innovation in Citizen Science, recognising its success in turning community-led monitoring into practical conservation action. 

Following the Report Card's release, Earthwatch's Senior Program Manager for Wetlands, Coastal and Marine Environments and the Co-Founder of MangroveWatch, Jock Mackenzie  joined Michael Clarke on ABC North Queensland Radio Breakfast to discuss the new shoreline mangrove indicator and the growing role of citizen science in protecting coastal wetlands. 

Together, these milestones showcase the growing impact of MangroveWatch. By turning community-collected data into meaningful environmental action, the program demonstrates that citizen science doesn't just collect data, it drives better environmental outcomes. 

Explore this year's Townsville Dry Tropics Waterways Report Card to see how community-collected data is helping build a clearer picture of waterway health and learn more about how MangroveWatch is protecting Australia's coastal wetlands. 

Dry Tropics Waterways Report Card

Explore this year’s Report Card to see how community-collected data, including data gathered through MangroveWatch, is helping build a clearer picture of waterway health and inform action to protect Australia’s coastal wetlands.

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Protecting Australia’s Wetlands

Discover more about Earthwatch’s wetlands work and how citizen science is helping protect Australia’s mangroves, saltmarshes and coastal ecosystems.

Read more