Join us for a glorious afternoon conducting vital research of our local seagrass meadows. Learn about the many ocean critters we may find along the way, whilst also looking out for dugong feeding trails.

We will meet on Thursday 19 March 2026 at 3.15pm for snacks before commencing the survey across the mudflats.

Our valued community seagrass volunteers surveying a quadrat. Photo: Alex Gibson.

Please ensure you bring the following:

• Sun protection: The Kimberley sun packs a punch, please ensure you wear protective clothing such as t shirt/long sleeve shirt, hat and sunscreen.
• Water bottle: save waste and bring your own bottle, we will provide water to re-fill.
• Reef Shoes: the mud flats are very sticky! We recommend you wear reef boots to protect your toes from the many intertidal creatures and potential sharp rocks/coral. We will provide boots you can borrow if you do not have your own.

Lush seagrass at low tide. Photo: Alex Gibson.

Please meet our team near the Town Beach boat ramp, see the location details below. Contact Alex our Seagrass Officer if you need help locating us or have any questions about the survey. 

Distance from town centre: 5 mins drive

GPS coordinates: -17.970581, 122.236720 

Google Maps Directions: 17°58'14.1"S 122°14'12.2"E - Google Maps

Please watch the Seagrass training video below prior to the survey:

BROOME COMMUNITY SEAGRASS MONITORING PROJECT TRAINING VIDEO on Vimeo

You can read more about our Seagrass Project on our website project page: Seagrass Monitoring Project - Environs Kimberley

We hope to see you out on the Bay!

Contact: Alex – Seagrass Project Officer

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 0472721606

Meet near the Town Beach boat ramp.

Distance from town centre: 5 mins drive

GPS coordinates: -17.970581, 122.236720 

Join our seagrass survey as we venture out from Roebuck Bay's Demco Beach on a beautiful afternoon to discover fascinating intertidal creatures and help gather important ecological data.

We will start at the meeting place with a cuppa and snacks (email us if you have any specific dietary requirements), followed by a safety and training induction before commencing the survey across the mudflat.

An anemone in the seagrass. Photo: Alex Gibson.

Please ensure you bring the following:

• Sun protection: the Kimberley sun packs a punch, please ensure you wear protective clothing such as t shirt/long sleeve shirt, hat and sunscreen.
• Water bottle: save waste and bring your own bottle, we will provide water to re-fill.
• Reef Shoes: the mud flats are very sticky! We recommend you wear reef boots to protect your toes from the many intertidal creatures and potential sharp rocks/coral. We will provide boots you can borrow if you do not have your own.

A seagrass survey under way. Photo: Darren Willmott.

Please meet our team at the location below. Contact Alex our Seagrass Officer if you need help locating us or have any questions about the project.

Please watch our training video below so you can be best prepared for your afternoon on the mud:

BROOME COMMUNITY SEAGRASS MONITORING PROJECT TRAINING VIDEO on Vimeo

If you want to learn more about the project, visit our project web page: Seagrass Monitoring Project - Environs Kimberley

We hope to see you out on the mudflats!

Contact: Alex – Seagrass Project Officer

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 0472721606

Join us for an early morning adventure as we set out to monitor the health of our local seagrass communities! Enjoy the pindan track that leads us to the incredible Black Ledge site. Look out for plenty of intertidal critters crawling in the mud as we make our way across the exposed seagrass meadow, collecting vital ecological data.

We will start the morning at 5am with snacks and a hot drink, before commencing the survey across the mudflats. Please ensure you bring the following:

• Sun protection: the Kimberley sun packs a punch, please ensure you wear protective clothing such as t-shirt/long sleeve shirt and a hat.
• Water bottle: save waste and bring your own bottle, we will provide water to re-fill.
• Reef shoes: the mud flats are very sticky! We recommend you wear reef boots to protect your toes from the many intertidal creatures and potential sharp rocks/coral. We will provide boots you can borrow if you do not have your own.

Taking a core sample of mud to monitor seagrass seeds. Photo: Darren Willmott.

Please meet our team at the location below. Contact Alex our seagrass officer if you need help locating us or have any questions about the project.

Please watch our training video prior to the survey:

BROOME COMMUNITY SEAGRASS MONITORING PROJECT TRAINING VIDEO on Vimeo

You can learn more about the project by visiting our website: Seagrass Monitoring Project - Environs Kimberley

We hope to see you out on the mudlfats!

Contact: Alex – Seagrass Project Officer

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 0472721606 

Distance from town centre: 30 mins drive (4WD recommended - the section of Crab Creek Road, which is dirt, can be in poor condition)

Join us to participate in vital research monitoring Roebuck Bay's seagrass meadows! Take in the vast exposed mudflats as we conduct surveys on the seagrass plants and seeds. Learn about the many ocean critters we may encounter along the way, and, if we're lucky, spot dugong feeding trails.

We will meet bright and early at 5am for a cuppa and snacks (email us if you have specific dietary requirements), followed by a safety and training induction before commencing the survey across the mudflats. Please ensure you bring the following:

• Sun protection: the Kimberley sun packs a punch, please ensure you wear protective clothing such as a t-shirt/long sleeve shirt and a hat.
• Water bottle: save waste and bring your own bottle, we will provide water to re-fill.
• Reef shoes: the mud flats are very sticky! We recommend you wear reef boots to protect your toes from the many intertidal creatures and potential sharp rocks/coral. We will provide boots you can borrow if you do not have your own.

Please meet our team at the location below. Contact Alex, our seagrass officer, if you need help locating us or have any questions about the project.

Please watch our training video below so you can be best prepared for your afternoon on the mud:

BROOME COMMUNITY SEAGRASS MONITORING PROJECT TRAINING VIDEO on Vimeo

You can learn more about the project by visiting our website project page: Seagrass Monitoring Project - Environs Kimberley

We hope to see you out on the mudflats!

Contact: Alex – Seagrass Project Officer

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 0472721606

Meet near the Broome Port Slipway entrance.

Distance from town centre: 10 mins drive

GPS coordinates: -12.967874, 122.290245 

Volunteers with the Society for Kimberley Indigenous Plants and Animals (SKIPA) have been growing plants over the wet season for the annual SKIPA Plant Sale happening soon.

The sale will be held on Sunday 22 February 2026, starting at 7:30am, at Magabala Botanical Park in Broome North.

Come on down and grab some beautiful native plants for your garden!

If you’d like to help out at the plant sale, or get involved with SKIPA generally, please email the SKIPA team: [email protected]

Society for Kimberley Indigenous Plants and Animals (SKIPA) was busy in 2025 celebrating the beauty, diversity, and ecological importance of Kimberley native plants with a variety of events. Earlier in the year SKIPA held their annual plant sale at the Broome Botanical Park. Grown by members at their own homes (in the absence of a central nursery) the plants sold out within one hour, showing the popularity of native plants and the growing appreciation of how native plant gardens contribute to biodiversity and conservation, reduce water usage, and create habitats for local wildlife.

Native garden enthusiasts among the swales listen to tips on harvesting water. Photo: Kylie Weatherall.

SKIPA also held their inaugural Kimberley Native Garden Open Day, exploring three very different gardens around Broome. With informative talks from each garden host, participant learnt about the successes and challenges of creating a native garden from scratch, how to introduce native plants to an established garden and how to harvest water on residential properties. While the gardens all had very different looks, a few ‘principles of success’ were common across all the gardens: mulch heavily, reticulate, keep on top of weeds, and provide plenty of sunshine.

The water-harvesting garden showed how to get the most out of the Kimberley's tropical downpours by retaining water on site without causing erosion or flooding. Tips included making vital initial observations to see where the water ran, where it pooled and where erosion could occur. This information can help the gardener plan how to redirect and capture the water through the construction of temporary watercourses, swales and mounds. Other tips included having porous driveways and paths (minimising hard surfaces), reducing evaporation through mulching, capturing rainwater in tanks and reusing grey water in gardens. With three delightfully different gardens to visit, the open day was an educational and inspiring morning for native-plant lovers, which SKIPA hopes to run again.

In between these events, busy bees were held at the Broome Botanical Park and at the new SKIPA/EK nursery. Generous grants from the Shire of Broome, the Foundation for Rural Regional Renewal, Horizon Power and the Water Corporation have all helped fund the construction of the nursery.

SKIPA greatly appreciates the support of all the funding bodies, as well as the tireless efforts of volunteers. We welcome everyone to get involved and learn about Kimberley plants and animals. If you'd like to find out more, visit our volunteer page here.

- Kylie Weatherall

Concerns are mounting in Broome about the threat to Scott Reef off the Kimberley coast from Woodside’s Browse Basin proposal for 50 oil and gas wells around the iconic marine biodiversity hotspot.

This morning a gathering of locals requested Kimberley Member of Parliament Divina D’Anna convey their concerns about the proposal to the WA Minister for the Environment Matthew Swinbourn and Premier Roger Cook.

“The community clearly doesn’t want Woodside’s damaging, risky, polluting project that would send most of the gas overseas. There’s only a downside to this proposal for West Australians and our globally significant coastlines,” said Martin Pritchard, Executive Director of Broome-based conservation group Environs Kimberley.

Broome residents gathered to voice concerns about Woodside’s Scott Reef plan. Photo: Wendy Mitchell.

The proposal is under assessment by the WA EPA, and the Cook Labor Government is expected to make a decision in early 2026.

“Scott Reef off the Kimberley coast is a marine biodiversity jewel of the Indian Ocean and is one of Australia’s most important offshore oceanic reefs,” said Mr Pritchard. The reef is a haven for 900 species of fish, 300 coral species, 1,500 species of invertebrates and 29 species of marine mammals including the endangered pygmy blue whale. Sandy Islet, a sandy cay at Scott Reef, is the nesting ground of 1,000 genetically distinct green turtles, any damage to the islet could be catastrophic for the species. If oil and gas is extracted from underneath the reef, Sandy Islet is expected to sink and would no longer be suitable for green turtle nesting.

Locals hold handmade signs asking for protection of Scott Reef. Photo: Wendy Mitchell.

“A major oil spill would be catastrophic for marine life at Scott Reef and we have a nearby example of the Montara oil disaster from 2009 which devastated the West Timor economy and seaweed farmers’ livelihoods. An oil spill of this magnitude is too much of a risk for Scott Reef and the Kimberley coast,” Mr Pritchard said.

The emissions from the Browse oil and gas project would be on a global scale at 1.6 billion tonnes of CO₂ according to Woodside’s reports. This would further fuel climate change which is devastating reefs globally, with the latest coral bleaching covering over 1,500km of the West Australian coast and reefs from Ashmore Reef to Ningaloo.

Broome based conservation group Environs Kimberley says the Federal government’s approval of the Woodside North West Shelf extension to 2070 signals the death knell for Scott Reef, Australia’s most important oceanic reef 270km off the Kimberley coast.

“We need net zero by 2050 not new gas refineries to 2070 if we want to keep coral reefs like Scott Reef alive,” said Environs Kimberley Director Martin Pritchard.

“The Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Environment Minister Murray Watt have taken the gas industry line which is contrary to expert organisations like the International Energy Agency, United Nations and climate scientists who say we can’t open up new gas basins if we want a safe climate,” Mr Pritchard said.

North West Shelf project. Photo: CCWA.

“People, especially young people, voted for a safe climate not the financial interests of oil and gas companies who now effectively have a licence to pollute until 2070,” said Mr Pritchard.

“The Albanese government will regret this decision as more climate catastrophes come our way and must take responsibility for that due to decisions like this.

“We now have no choice but to run the biggest campaign since James Price Point to protect Scott Reef and to make sure fracking doesn’t happen in the Kimberley,” said Mr Pritchard. 

Send your submission to save Scott Reef here. 

Scott Reef. Photo: Alex Westover.

Hundreds of community members gathered for the premiere screening of Corals’ Last Stand here in Broome this week. Corals’ Last Stand by documentary filmaker Jane Hammond, tells the story of the Kimberley marine treasure, Scott Reef and the challenges it faces as Woodside, BP, MiMi and Petrochina threaten the reef system with a proposal to extract oil and gas from beneath it. The story is narrated by West Australian author Tim Winton, accompanied by musician John Butler and a host of leading conservationists from Western Australia including EK's Martin Pritchard who secured the boat and went out to Scott Reef with them.  

The night also featured a screening of A Crude Injustice, another film by Jane Hammond, which tells the harrowing story of the Montara oil spill that occurred in 2009, off the Kimberley coast. The uncontrolled spill lasted for over 74 days in the Timor and reached as far as the coast of Indonesian Timor, devastating marine life and seaweed farms in its path, damage that has still not fully recovered. The Montara oil spill disaster is a timely reminder that when things go wrong in oil and gas extraction, they can go very wrong.  

Hundreds of Broome residents turn out for screening of Corals’ Last Stand. Photo: Wendy Mitchell.

The campaign to save Scott Reef is gaining momentum, with people from across Australia getting on board to protect the magnificent marine life there from the damaging effects of drilling for fossil gas. Scott Reef is a biodiversity hotspot in the Kimberley and should not be jeopardized for profit, nor should the Kimberley coast line be put at risk of a spill. Keep an eye out for further events in Broome as the fight to Stop Woodside and Save Scott Reef continues.  

To see if there is a screening happening near you check out: https://www.coralslaststand.com.au/screenings 

Or registered to host a screening for friends and family: https://www.coralslaststand.com.au/book-a-screening  

Premier Cook on election trail in the Kimberley – community calls for fracking ban commitment

West Australian Premier Roger Cook is on the election trail in Broome and has been greeted with a strong community call to extend the ban on fracking in the southwest of the state and the Dampier Peninsula to cover all the Kimberley.

While the WA Government under Premier Mark McGowan’s leadership promised veto rights for Traditional Owners and farmers over fracking in 2018, the promise has not been fulfilled and the whole process is creating significant division in communities across the region.

“There’s a simple answer to the whole question of the destructive industrialisation of the Kimberley through oil and gas fracking and that’s a ban on the industry like there is in the Southwest of the state,” said Environs Kimberley Executive Director Martin Pritchard.

The community protest at local Kimberley MP Divina D’Anna’s office called for the ban in light of the proposal by Texan fossil fuel company Black Mountain, to drill and frack 20 oil and gas wells in the Martuwarra Fitzroy River catchment.

The WA EPA is currently assessing the proposal and a decision will be required of the WA Government after the election.

The Kimberley community has vehemently opposed fracking for the past 12 years and concerns have been heightened recently with Black Mountain proposing a pipeline to an LNG refinery in the Pilbara.

“A recent report by climate scientists has shown the potential for 8,700 oil and gas wells across the region that would seriously undermine Australia's ability to meet its climate goals, surely the Premier Roger Cook doesn’t want to open the Kimberley to that,” Mr Pritchard said.

“What we have now is a completely different proposition to what the WA government based its lifting of the ban on fracking in the Kimberley in 2018. What we’re facing now is turning the Kimberley into Texas,” Mr Pritchard said.  

“The community wants a commitment from the Premier and the Labor party that the already existing ban on fracking in the Southwest of the state and the Dampier Peninsula be extended to cover the whole Kimberley,” Mr Pritchard said.

Surveying of over 1,000 people in the seat of Fremantle revealed 92% of voters want a ban on fracking and 72% are willing to change their vote for it.

“If its too risky for the Southwest then we shouldn’t be discriminated against in the Kimberley just because it’s been a safe Labor seat,” Mr Pritchard said.

You can send a message asking Premier Cook to ban fracking in the Kimberley here. 

Photo: Damian Kelly.