Bitumen coating mangrove and molluscs a couple days after the spill. Photo Credit: Tanya Murphy, Australian Marine Conservation Society

29th September 2025 – 2nd Oct 2025

On 29th September 2025, a bitumen and kersoene spill occurred in Smith’s Creek (Trinity Inlet). CAFNEC staff were made aware via The Cairns Post social media pages.

On 30th September 2025, CAFNEC was contacted contacted by ABC Far North to comment on the spill. CAFNEC Projects Officer, Shannon Bredeson, talked about the impact to mangrove health as the pollutants can: smother snorkel roots, damage fish nurseries, and poison  mangrove crabs – if not cleaned up properly and quickly. Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) and a marine biologist at James Cook University are also quoted in the article.

ABC Far North Article

ABC Far North Breakfast

Boral self-reported the spill stating that it was due to a bund safety valve failure. As a result, 10,000L of kerosene and bitumen spilled into Smith’s Creek.

CAFNEC contacted Dr. Norman Duke, a mangrove ecologist with more than 40 years experience, to inform him of the spill.

On 2nd October 2025, Maritime Safety Queensland (MSQ) contacted CAFNEC to discuss our MangroveWatch program and opportunities for an existing program to provide long term monitoring in Trinity Inlet. They also confirmed they had been in touch with Dr. Duke and reading his papers.

However, support to MSQ was limited as they did not have funding to pay for Dr. Duke nor CAFNEC’s time.

Bitumen coating leaves of a young mangrove sapling in Trinity Inlet. Photo Credit: Tanya Murphy, Australian Marine Conservation Society. 

Screenshot from DETSI’s website stating that they will not be removing the residue from the rock wall nor the mangroves. Screenshot taken on 8th October at 3pm.

Bitumen sticking to mangrove snorkel roots in Trinity Inlet. Photo Credit: Tanya Murphy, Australian Marine Conservation Society. 

This post will be updated regularly as new information comes in and decisions are made. Please check back here for the latest updates.

First planting at Barr Creek Fish Habitat Area. AFTER. (2025) – see BEFORE photo at end of article.

Mulgrave LAP:

In 2024, the Mulgrave LAP Coastal Wetland Education Campaign was the first completed LAP. Led by Rachel Platte and Clive Murray, local school students were taught the importance of coastal wetlands in the classroom and in the field! It provided hands-on opportunities for students to learn about mangroves in their own backyard. It also filled a gap in the school education system by providing schools with a free educational opportunity on coastal wetlands.

This year, Rachel and Clive are beginning their second year of the program. They are expanding the program from 3 schools to 5 schools and including a knowledge-sharing field day with the Madjaybana Rangers from Madjandji Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC. This opportunity allows children to learn about the cultural value of coastal wetlands and supports reconciliation, with the rangers being remunerated for their time and knowledge. This expansion and increased engagement with the local community is proudly supported by the Queensland Government—Engaging Science Grants.

Rob Williams working hard at the first tree planting event for Barr Creek Fish Habitat Area. (2025)

Hinchinbrook LAP:

Vito Napoli and Gabi Plumm, Hinchinbrook LAP Leaders, have also received funding through GBRF’s Value Add Grant to get expert advice from a coastal engineer at Royal HaskoningDHV. The engineer is currently drafting a report, outlining erosion severity, potential causes, and feasibility of the bamboo fence to reduce erosion of the Cardwell foreshore. This report will fulfill State Assessment and Referral Agency requirements and help us obtain permits as we progress to on-ground works.

First planting day at Barr Creek Fish Habitat Area with Holloways Beach Coastcare. BEFORE. (2025) 

CAFNEC’s MangroveWatch Chapter is funded by the partnership between the Australia Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. Project delivery is done in partnership with Earthwatch Australia and MangroveWatch.

Bess Murphy leading a team of volunteers for mangrove monitoring and accompanied  by mangrove expert, Dr. Norm Duke.(2018)

Far North Queensland’s estuaries have the highest diversity of mangroves in the world but are at risk. These coastal wetlands (mangrove and saltmarsh) provide vital ecosystem services to our region; reducing shoreline erosion, providing habitat for marine life, sequestering carbon, and filtering runoff. For those who love seafood, fishing, snorkeling, or simply want to reduce the flood risk on your property – you can thank the mangroves. However, coastal wetlands are at risk from urban development and climate change. Over the past 10 years we have seen mass mangrove dieoff in the Gulf of Carpentaria in 2015 and severe successive flooding in Cairns and surrounds from 2023 -2025. These local issues require local solutions to build the resilience of coastal wetlands as we face an uncertain climate change future. 

Alex Sinchak teaching CAFNEC Volunteers and Holloways Beach Coastcare saltmarsh monitoring methods at Thomatis Creek. (2022)

The Chapter’s current funding, through the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation (GBRF), ends October 2025. This offers an opportunity to reflect on the key outcomes and learnings from this multi-year funding.

From 2019 -2021, we began expanding the program. We had 7 partnerships with groups like South Cape York Catchments, Great Barrier Reef Legacy, Holloways Beach Environmental Education Centre and Dawul Wuru Aboriginal Corporation, and monitored mangroves from Daintree to Gordonvale. Discussions were held to expand south to Innisfail and Cardwell and include the data in the Regional Reef Report Card. We also initiated saltmarsh monitoring and leveraged community engagement to advocate for repairing Jack Barnes Boardwalk. This initial funding round provided a new level of certainty, enabling the development of a long-term vision for our chapter that was implemented in the following rounds.

From 2022 – 2025, CAFNEC began implementing our long-term vision involving project expansion and restructuring. We now have 11 partners, including First Nations Partners for every estuary, education centres, boat operators, and landcare/coastcare groups. We were able to remunerate Indigenous Rangers and Traditional Owners for their involvement. This strengthened the knowledge-sharing across local knowledge, Traditional Knowledge, and western science and promoted reconciliation. It also paved the way for us to transition to a First Nations-led and citizen scientist-supported model as our First Nations Partners are currently being trained to self-coordinate monitoring activities. Thanks to our partnership with Holloways Beach Coastcare, Thomatis Creek was added to our saltmarsh monitoring. Mangrove data was included in the Regional Reef Report Card – a first for citizen science! Mangrove monitoring shifted further south covering Cairns to Cardwell. We stopped coordinating monitoring in the North as our capacity changed to accommodate a new pilot project – the Local Action Plans. 

Rob Williams standing at the fence line delineating the property boundary of Barr Creek Fish Habitat. (2024)

In the Mulgrave, Rachel and Clive recently completed their first year of an education campaign. They taught children across three schools about the importance of coastal wetlands and have received multiple requests to share their knowledge at other schools. For Hinchinbrook, Vito Napoli and Gabi Plumm are working to build a bamboo fence to reduce shoreline erosion and have completed a lidar drone survey with MangoesMapping to determine site elevation level and are receiving expert advice from a coastal engineer to satisfy permitting requirements. It is amazing to see what the local community can accomplish! The Townsville and Mackay MangroveWatch Chapters have now begun using the LAP process, creating a legacy of community-led action for the protection of coastal wetlands.

Vito Napoli, Gabi Plumm, and David Bender standing with supporters after the completion of a Lidar Drone survey by MangoesMapping. (2024)

CAFNEC’s MangroveWatch Chapter has been of great benefit to both the environment and the community! The multi-year funding has been crucial to our project expansion and restructuring. It gave us time to explore new ideas, implement them, and measure the outcomes. As this ends in October 2025, we are currently seeking funds to continue the program. This will allow us to complete the transition to a First Nations-led, citizen scientist-supported model, expand mangrove monitoring back into the north, and continue supporting the Local Action Plans. In a time of climate change uncertainty, we need financial certainty and flexibility.

CAFNEC’s MangroveWatch Chapter is funded by the partnership between the Australia Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. Project delivery is done in partnership with Earthwatch Australia and MangroveWatch.

HAVE YOUR SAY AND INFLUENCE ON GROUND ACTION PLANS

CAFNEC has been collecting shoreline video assessment data of estuaries like the Mulgrave in Far North Queensland for a couple of years now. It’s been made possible by our dedicated volunteers and partners to put in hours of fieldwork and resources to establish baseline data and collect new data on an annual basis. With the amount of data we have, we now have the chance to use it to influence some on-ground action to promote thriving mangroves in our tropical community.

What is the purpose of this workshop?

This is a collaborative space to give concerned individuals a chance to have their say and influence plans with locally relevant solutions to estuary-specific problems. We are connecting communities with science practitioners and stakeholders to come to an agreement on a feasible plan that is actionable and measurable. Locals possess knowledge that benefits science and fills historical knowledge gaps that experts may not be able to. We want to create participatory opportunities for those who care about the environment but fear they don’t have the skills or background to contribute to positive outcomes in nature. We want to empower communities to connect with their decision-makers to make more informed land management decisions.

EarthWatch Australia Tidal Wetlands Program Manager Jock Mackenzie will provide recommendations for the Mulgrave River and workshop participants will agree on actionable strategies and identify the necessary actions to resource these plans and implement them in 2023. The workshop will be co-facilitated by CAFNEC and EarthWatch Australia to help guide the process to produce meaningful outcomes at the end of the two days.

This is the third of our in-person Local Action Plan Workshop series. The Trinity Inlet Local Action Plan workshop produced some good strategic outcomes the community can work on and we are excited for what the Mulgrave River Local Action Plan Workshop has in store.

HAVE YOUR SAY AND INFLUENCE ON GROUND ACTION PLANS

CAFNEC has been collecting shoreline video assessment data of estuaries like the Barron River in Far North Queensland for a couple of years now. It’s been made possible by our dedicated volunteers and partners to put in hours of fieldwork and resources to establish baseline data and collect new data on an annual basis. With the amount of data we have, we now have the chance to use it to influence some on-ground action to promote thriving mangroves in our tropical community.

What is the purpose of this workshop?

This is a collaborative space to give concerned individuals a chance to have their say and influence plans with locally relevant solutions to estuary-specific problems. We are connecting communities with science practitioners and stakeholders to come to an agreement on a feasible plan that is actionable and measurable. Locals possess knowledge that benefits science and fills historical knowledge gaps that experts may not be able to. We want to create participatory opportunities for those who care about the environment but fear they don’t have the skills or background to contribute to positive outcomes in nature. We want to empower communities to connect with their decision-makers to make more informed land management decisions.

EarthWatch Australia Tidal Wetlands Program Manager Jock Mackenzie will provide recommendations for the Barron River and workshop participants will agree on actionable strategies and identify the necessary actions to resource these plans and implement them in 2023. The workshop will be co-facilitated by CAFNEC and EarthWatch Australia to help guide the process to produce meaningful outcomes at the end of the two days.

This is the second of our in-person Local Action Plan Workshop series. The Trinity Inlet Local Action Plan workshop produced some good strategic outcomes the community can work on and we are excited for what the Barron River Local Action Plan Workshop has in store.

We’ve been running monitoring sessions in Far North Queensland estuaries since 2019 and will continue to monitor between now at 2023. The data we collect gives us the opportunity to inform on-ground action plans responding to estuary-specific threats. How do we get the data? You’re about to learn what it takes to plan a MangroveWatch monitoring session.

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When is the best time to monitor Mangroves? The dry season. Between April and October are generally the best monitoring times with more predictable weather patterns. So that leaves about 6-7 months to get on the water and collect data. Not so fast. We have to consider the tides. Any good boater will know what the conditions are going to be like before getting on the water. The best tide to go out for MangroveWatch is on a rising tide or sometime around what’s called a neap tide. Neap tide happens twice a month and occurs when high tides are a little lower than average and low tides are a little higher than average. I go to willyweather.com to check on the tides to determine when is the ideal time to monitor. What does this look like? It’s best to start at the mouth of the estuary and travel upstream on a rising tide to avoid running aground or getting stuck in shallow water.

A rising tide may happen in the morning or afternoon and with that, you will have to determine the position of the sun at that time of day. We cannot collect good quality data if we are shooting into the sun because the glare interferes with the picture. It is best to film with the sun on our backs. For example, if the rising tide is in the morning and we are traveling north upstream, we will film on the left side of the boat facing the western shoreline.

After a monitoring plan has been put in place we need to resource a boat and a skipper. CAFNEC does not own a boat for MangroveWatch and unless we have the proper facilities to store one or the time to maintain one we never plan to. We rely heavily on volunteers with their own vessel and boating experience to collect data and if we can’t find anyone to donate a vessel we do budget for vessel hire as a last resort.

Now we begin to recruit Mangrove Champions (dedicated volunteers) for data collection. We have 5 roles necessary to complete shoreline video assessment: boat driver, photographer, videographer, GPS operator, and notetaker (plus me as I teach everyone how to do their roles). It’s good to have 5 people, it’s possible with 4, you can get by with 3 on board and combine jobs if necessary. Generally, volunteers are available on the weekend so we need to find a neap tide that happens on a weekend (or close to it) to make the most of the conditions and give volunteers enough time to practice and collect a substantial amount of data.

A few days before we offer a training workshop, we need to make sure the equipment is charged, there is enough space on the memory cards, and we have enough blank data sheets and cheat sheets to guide the process. Don’t forget the first aid kit as well.

After we recruit Champions, we offer a PowerPoint training session as an introduction to the program so that participants feel more prepared to collect the data and identify threats and values in the mangroves more easily. 

There have been times when MangroveWatch has been planned for weeks, sometimes months, in advance and then a sudden rainstorm develops the day before and is projected to last for a few more days. We can’t control the weather or the moon so we just reschedule and adapt to the situation. This year has been a demonstration of how climate change has impacted CAFNEC’s ability to do its citizen science work. The wet season usually ends in early April but this year it lasted through May and impacted our monitoring schedule. MangroveWatch is more enjoyable with sunny conditions and no rain to damage the equipment or dampen spirits.

If the conditions are good and we have enough volunteers and resources, a successful MangroveWatch is guaranteed. Volunteers make our work possible so we can always benefit from having locals participate in our work. Volunteers don’t have to have any scientific background or experience, we will teach you everything!