Earthwatch citizen science helping to protect Australia’s precious coastal ecosystems

04 August 2026

written by John McMorrow

The 2025 Earthwatch MangroveWatch program has proved a great success, with the judges at the internationally renowned Earthshot Prize ranking it in its top 14% worldwide of community led, evidence-based climate projects.

The program is a partnership between Earthwatch and MangroveWatch, working in active collaboration with Traditional Owners, Indigenous Rangers, scientists, natural resource managers, community groups and students. In 2025, the Australian focus was on Queensland and the Northern Territory, monitoring across 20 estuaries, 52 saltmarsh sites and 33 mangrove forest plots representing community stewardship of more than 66,900 hectares of coastal wetlands.

Earthwatch Australia CEO Fiona Sutton Wilson said the recognition by such a prestigious panel is a reward for Earthwatch’s fantastic network of volunteers and staff and is recognition for Earthwatch’s approach combining the very best of professional and citizen science environmental action, monitoring and education.

The amount of work our participants undertook to protect our natural world in 2025 is equivalent to a single person working full-time for 62.5 years. This is the power of the Earthwatch approach to protecting the natural world. People with the right knowledge and tools make a difference, every single day.

Earthwatch Australia impact report 2025

The full list of 2025 Earthwatch MangroveWatch achievements is truly impressive:

1952 coastal wetland observations across Australia and Vanuatu
736 recorded species
107 new species locality records
38 new local government area records
38 new local government area records
3 new bioregion records
6 species range extensions
An additional 5474 coastal wetland observations were independently verified by our team

Other key highlights:

128 Indigenous participants
78 Indigenous youth
20 Indigenous Ranger Groups
21 schools and youth organisations engaged
48 community and government partners
13 action outcomes (including LAP)
3 Published Products
18 Workshops and Presentations

Supported by the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and delivered in partnership with regional organisations including the Cairns and Far North Environment Centre, LAPs are practical frameworks that go beyond simple data collection and transforms monitoring into coordinated, locally led solutions

Workshops in Cairns, Townsville, Mackay and Bundaberg brought together Traditional Owners, community leaders, youth participants and environmental practitioners to identify priority risks and co-design response actions.

Further recognition of Earthwatch’s MangroveWatch program success has come from the Abu Dhabi Government which invited our resident mangrove ecologist – Jock Mackenzie – to train participants at the IUCN Species Survival Commission Mangrove Specialist Group as they develop a Mangrove Ecosystem Monitoring Toolkit for the Arabian Gulf region.

Jock is now an advisor to the IUCN Commission Group for Wetlands Ecosystems where he champions community engagement in global mangrove species conservation.

Being part of the IUCN Mangrove Specialist Group workshop reinforced just how important collaboration is in tackling the growing threats facing mangrove species. The threats and drivers of mangrove extinction are rapidly increasing, and urgent action is needed. The first step is defining what is a mangrove species and identifying which species are at risk of extinction. My role on the IUCN SSC Mangrove Specialist Group is to ensure community observations and local knowledge of mangrove species distribution and extinction risk can support global mangrove species conservation using citizen science platforms such as iNaturalist. Through the MangroveWatch program, we've seen how community-led citizen science and local observations can generate the high-quality data needed to support this work. It's incredibly encouraging to see that approach recognised internationally, with local observations helping inform global conservation efforts to protect mangrove species for the future.

Jock Mackenzie

Founded by HRH Prince William in 2020, The Earthshot Prize offers yearly prizes of £1 million “to find, celebrate and scale the solutions that will repair our planet by 2030” in each of its five ‘Earthshot’ categories –

(1) Protect and Restore Nature; (2) Clean our Air; (3) Revive our Oceans; (4) Build a Waste-Free World; and (5) Fix our Climate.

Join the Earthwatch community

Get Involved with MangroveWatch

Volunteer at an upcoming event

Read the 2025 Impact Report

The 2025 Impact Report showcases how citizen science, experiential learning, and community-led environmental action are creating measurable change across Australia and beyond. From restoring ecosystems to empowering the next generation of environmental leaders, this is the impact you make possible

Read the Report