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National Environmental Science Program
May 2023 update
This month’s update from the National Environmental Science Program (NESP) comes to you during National Reconciliation Week, 29 May to 2 June 2023. NESP brings Traditional Owners together with scientists, land managers, policy-makers and government to ensure the best available knowledge is informing how we manage the environment.
In support of National Reconciliation Week, we held an online showcase for Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water staff. The NESP Indigenous partnerships showcase, held on Wednesday 31 May, had presentations from:
- the Marine and Coastal Hub and Wadandi knowledge holders, on how cultural and historical guidance can help manage ecosystem components for the Australian Marine Parks on Wadandi Country.
- the Resilient Landscapes Hub, on its co-design research with Indigenous land managers and ranger groups to support the management of priority desert threatened species. This project aims to improve monitoring techniques to quantify the impacts of threats to threatened species that are culturally significant.
- the Sustainable Communities and Waste Hub Senior Indigenous Facilitator and Co-Chair of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) National Research Ethics Committee, who provided an overview on applying the AIATSIS Code of Ethics
- NESP Indigenous Knowledge Broker, Jade Gould, who provided an update on the redevelopment of the Three Category Approach: A guide to meeting best practice for partnerships with First Nations peoples in environmental research.
Read our Indigenous partnerships brochure for more on NESP collaborations between Indigenous rangers, researchers and Traditional Owners.
Hub highlights
Climate Systems Hub
Launching the NESP Climate College
This year, the Climate Systems Hub established the Climate College, a program to support early career professionals in the climate space. The Climate College will empower the next generation of climate science and climate change adaptation experts through monthly webinars, workshops, and in-person networking events.
In March, the Climate College’s first webinar brought together experts from across industry to talk about their careers and how they use climate information in their work. The second webinar in April enabled Indigenous and non-Indigenous speakers to discuss their experience bringing together western and traditional science, Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property, and good practices for working on Country.
Scientists and policy-makers alike need to draw on the best available knowledge to tackle the interdisciplinary challenges posed by our climate change future. Read more about the hub’s Climate College.
Sustainable Communities and Waste Hub
Key Thinkers Forum on Air Quality and Indigenous Health
Impacts of landscape smoke, tobacco, vaping, and other social and environmental determinants of First Nations people’s health were explored at the recent Key Thinkers Forum on Air Quality and Indigenous Health.
The forum was facilitated by Professor Tom Calma AO, renowned Indigenous academic, 2023 Senior Australian of the Year and Chancellor of University of Canberra.
Almost 140 people from across the country came together to explore the impacts of poor air quality and its effects on Indigenous health. Researchers, practitioners, policy-makers and First Nations Australians worked to identify knowledge gaps, and will next create a roadmap for future community-research partnerships.
Professor Calma praised the event, and is now organising a follow-up forum in early June 2023 to explore and tackle the vaping and health issues raised at the forum.
The forum was jointly hosted by Macquarie University, the HEAL National Research Network, Asthma Australia and the Sustainable Communities and Waste (SCaW) Hub as part of a project aimed at reducing the impact of poor air quality on Australian communities. A summary of the issues discussed at the forum will be published soon, and future research activities will be prioritised through a co-design process.
Sustainable Communities and Waste Hub
Resilient Landscapes Hub
Recovering and restoring threatened species in Queensland’s Moonaboola (Mary River)
Queensland’s Moonaboola (Mary River) is a hotspot for threatened freshwater species such as the Mary River turtle and the evolutionarily significant Australian lungfish. These animals are only found in this corner of south-east Queensland and their survival is threatened by floods, fire, habitat loss and invasive species.
A new Resilient Landscapes Hub project is supporting on-ground management and recovery of these threatened species and their habitats in the Mary River.
Led by Professor Mark Kennard from Griffith University, the project will fill critical knowledge gaps on where these animals are, the status of their populations, their ecological and cultural values and the threats they face.
A recent canoe survey along 200 km of the river revealed while some areas are in very good condition and likely support healthy populations, other areas are severely degraded and in urgent need of repair.
The information gathered will be used to prioritise on-ground restoration actions. The approach and the knowledge gained will be transferable to other Australian ecosystems.
Crucially, Moonaboola is also home to passionate people involved in strong local organisations who want to save threatened species and achieve a resilient, sustainable and productive catchment. Hub researchers will be working closely with the Burnett Mary Regional Group, other catchment management groups, Traditional Owners, government and landholders.
Marine and Coastal Hub
Building national capacity for marine and coastal restoration
A wide range of factors contribute to the degradation of Australia’s marine and coastal habitats, including coastal development, pollution and climate change. Momentum is building in Australia and internationally to restore these ecosystems. The Marine and Coastal Hub is consolidating what we’ve learned from past research and setting strategic and technical guideposts for the next research phase including the need for:
- national and regional planning and coordination
- guidelines and standardisation
- public availability of data
- tools for economic analyses
- building of genuine, ongoing partnerships
- co-design and leadership with First Nations people.
Several tools and guidance documents have been delivered through the hub projects including:
- a national overview of coastal wetland mapping and research priorities
- a 10-step roadmap to scaling up marine and coastal restoration
- revised guidelines to facilitate coordinated and open-science restoration monitoring
- a national inventory of nature-based projects to mitigate coastal hazards
- an approach to identifying sites for tidal restoration
- a guide to the inclusion of sediment processes in seagrass restoration.
Keep up to date
Stay in touch and find out more about the interesting work happening across the Australian Government’s climate, water and environment portfolios: