Jun10: In this issue read about the economic valuation of seagrass ecosystems, and how they benefit human wellbeing. Other articles include: protecting seagrass to sustain incomes to local communities and provide habitat/food for endangered and threatened animals; oil spill impacts in Singapore; a survey in NE Madagascar; monitoring in Malaysia and Fiji; and Hermit crabs........ more

08 Jun 10: The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) says the Federal Government's Reef Rescue program is going to plan, with more than 500,000 hectares of catchment land now operating under new guidelines................ more

29 May 10: An oil slick from a damaged tanker has spread from beaches on Singapore's southeastern coastline to a marine nature reserve and other beaches, environment officials said............... more

Mer Is Jul 10 : The ranger program on Mer has started. All three sites were monitored.............gallery

Broome Jul 10: At the Port site, the seagrass was sparse but we were rewarded by a stunning sunrise and recorded some interesting creatures and algae. At the Demco and Town Beach site the seagrass cover was more substantial..............gallery

Seagrass-Watch is the largest scientific, non-destructive, seagrass assessment and monitoring program in the world. Since it's genesis in 1998 in Australia, Seagrass-Watch has now expanded internationally to 26 countries.  Monitoring is now occurring at approximately 259 sites across 17 countries and an additional 9 countries participate but are currently at resource identification stage.

Seagrass-Watch aims to raise awareness on the condition and trend of nearshore seagrass ecosystems and provide an early warning of major coastal environment changes.  Seagrass-Watch monitoring efforts are vital to assist with tracking global patterns in seagrass health, and assess the human impacts which have the potential to destroy or degrade these coastal ecosystems and decrease their yield of natural resources. Responsive management based on adequate information will help to prevent any further significant areas and species being lost. To protect the valuable seagrass meadows along our coasts, everyone must work together.