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 

Gina Rinehart at Australian Bush Summit in Broome

Community call to protect the Kimberley from environmental destruction

Community members held a protest this morning outside the Australian Bush Summit event in Broome where Gina Rinehart was giving a video address.

Ms Rinehart has two pastoral properties in the Kimberley – Liveringa and Fossil Downs – both abut the National Heritage-listed Martuwarra Fitzroy River. Her past calls to take 325 billion litres/year of water out of the river have been met with stiff resistance from the community and Traditional Owners.

More than 43,000 people sent submissions to the WA government in 2021, calling for the protection of the river and groundwater from the type of development proposed by Ms Rinehart.

Concerns have been heightened recently with Ms Rinehart applying for five mining leases on her pastoral interests in the Kimberley.

Community protesting asking Gina Rinehard to not trash the Kimberley. Photo: Environs Kimberley.

Conservation group Environs Kimberley Executive Director Martin Pritchard said:

“The Kimberley is known the world over for its breathtaking landscapes, free-flowing rivers and intact tropical savannahs. The type of development that has been proposed by Ms Rinehart in the past is totally inappropriate and would see the bulldozing of tens of thousands of hectares.”

“The half-a-million visitors that come to the Kimberley every year don’t come to see farmland and mines; they come to see natural landscapes and experience the ancient culture.”

Mr Pritchard said there was also concerns about the critically endangered sawfish that have died on Liveringa station in recent years:

“Liveringa station appears to be a deathtrap for critically endangered sawfish, with 57 known to have died since 2018. We are calling for the artificial infrastructure on the waterway that appears to be trapping these endangered animals to be removed and the site rehabilitated.”

Regarding the applications for mining leases, Mr Pritchard said:

“We’re calling on Ms Rinehart to withdraw these mining leases; we don’t want to see the Kimberley turned into the next Pilbara. If Ms Rinehart doesn’t withdraw these leases then we call on the Cook government to reject them: they extend over waterways and are in the National Heritage-listed area of the West Kimberley – it’s no place for mining.”

The WA government’s new national parks around the Martuwarra Fitzroy River and Margaret River, which are jointly managed with Traditional Owners, are still awaiting final completion. The community is concerned that the finalisation of part two is being held back by Ms Rinehart on Fossil Downs.”

“We want to see the national parks along the Martuwarra Fitzroy River completed without delay, and if Ms Rinehart’s company is holding this back, then we call on the WA government to take back that part of the pastoral lease through compulsory acquisition,” Mr Pritchard said.

“Much of the land proposed for the next part of the national park is useless for cattle and not required as part of the pastoral lease. Ms Rinehart is renting this land from the citizens of Western Australia; she needs to take a responsible approach to the environment and make sure we have decent conservation parks along the Martuwarra Fitzroy River and Margaret River.”

Help protect the critically endangered freshwater sawfish here.

Following a recent announcement that a company called ‘Valperlon’ (VBX) has raised capital to progress its years-old bauxite mining proposal in the far north Kimberley, Environs Kimberley (EK) has called on the Cook government to rule out such destructive mining in the region.

EK Executive Director Martin Pritchard said, “The north Kimberley is one of the most intact tropical terrestrial, coastal and marine environments in the world. It is not just a State and national treasure, it is globally unique. 

“In 2021 EK made its submission to the EPA assessment of this proposal, recommending it be rejected. There are numerous compelling reasons why strip mining for bauxite in this region is entirely environmentally unacceptable, including threats to high conservation value monsoon rainforest patches and impacts from port development to the outstanding marine environment adjacent to the minesite - which is now a marine park.

Humpback dolphins in the north Kimberley. Photo: Martin Pritchard.

 “The Cook government must do what the Barnett government did ten years ago in relation to possible bauxite mining on the iconic Mitchell Plateau, south of this proposal.

 “Premier Barnett had the foresight to terminate the State Agreement that would have allowed strip mining for bauxite on the Mitchell Plateau. For exactly the same reasons, strip mining for bauxite further north near Kalumburu should also be permanently ruled out.

“The decision by the Barnett government to remove the longstanding threat of bauxite mining on the Mitchell Plateau via enactment of the Alumina Refinery (Mitchell Plateau) Agreement (Termination) Act 2015, clearly indicated the WA government’s strong view that bauxite mining is not an acceptable activity in the North Kimberley. 

“As Premier Barnett stated at the time, ‘The termination legislation will also prevent the making or granting of any mining or exploration tenement applications over the Mitchell Plateau area until the area has become a Class A National Park. The Government has also acted to protect adjacent areas from mining tenement applications through the creation of an exemption under section 19 of the Mining Act 1978.’”

“The thought of turning this beautiful region into another landscape ravaged by bauxite strip mining is mind-boggling. Bauxite companies have already laid waste to tens of thousands of hectares of jarrah forest in WA’s south west. Such a disaster must not be inflicted on the north Kimberley.”

Broome-based conservation group Environs Kimberley (EK) is calling on the WA and Federal governments to reject the proposal from global sea cage fish farm developer Tassal to establish 84 barramundi sea cages across the remote, environmentally sensitive, National heritage-listed Buccaneer Archipelago north of Broome.

EK’s submission to the WA EPA assessment outlines seven of the reasons the proposal should be rejected.

Tassal, owned by Canadian giant Cooke Aquaculture Inc., is one of the companies involved in the ongoing salmon sea cage controversy in Tasmania. It recently acquired the existing, relatively small, Cone Bay barramundi sea cage operation in the Kimberley and has put forward a proposal to establish 84 sea cages spread across 50 km in the Mayala Marine Park which forms part of the National Heritage-listed Buccaneer Archipelago.

EK Executive Director Martin Pritchard said the marine and island environment of the Mayala Marine Park and Buccaneer Archipelago is incredibly significant for its environmental values and is no place for a high-risk industry like large scale sea cage fish farms.

Humpback whale calf with its mother. Photo: Matt Deakin.

“Recent experience in Tasmania, and also a massive fish death event at Cone Bay in 2019, show that large scale sea cage fish farming brings many impacts and risks which under no circumstances should be imposed on a globally significant environment like the Buccaneer Archipelago.

“The Kimberley coast is in the top 4% of least impacted coastlines in the world.  (Source: Halpern et al 2008)

“The marine environment of the Kimberley, including Buccaneer Archipelago, is a recognised stronghold for species like Humpback whales who give birth here, dolphins, dugong, turtles, rays and sawfish – species which are under increasing pressure elsewhere due to habitat loss, pollution, fishing and global warming.

“The Buccaneer Archipelago is also popular amongst recreational fishers who are concerned about this proposal.

Cone Bay. Photo: Martin Pritchard.

“Here in the Kimberley these marine species have the world’s most pristine environment where they can migrate, breed, raise their young and feed in safety. The many islands too are incredibly significant as refugia for species whose populations have sharply declined on the mainland due to introduced species and changed fire regimes.

“Spreading sea cage fish farming through this remote and pristine marine and island environment brings many risks including pollution, introduction of pests and diseases, attraction of predators, interruption of breeding and feeding patterns, unauthorised access to islands and disposal of large volumes of dead barramundi.

“Because of its remoteness, high tides, fast currents, narrow channels (and cyclones), if there is a major event like mass fish escape or mass disease and death event, it will be logistically very difficult to address.

Edeline Islands. Photo: Martin Pritchard.

“There is absolutely no good reason to put at risk a unique environment like the Buccaneer Archipelago to grow barramundi in sea cages. Fish farming should be undertaken close to population centres and support services and should be developed as closed-cycle operations on land, not in the open sea. This is the case with barramundi farming in the Northern Territory.”

Read more: WA Today's report "Tarnished Tassal brand targets WA barramundi".

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.

Western Australia’s vast treasures of tropical landscapes, coral reefs and abundant marine life, and the forests of the south-west, shape our identity. The emphatic wins of the Australian Labor Party in WA come at a time when the challenges to the very things that are part of our DNA in this great State have never been greater.

West Australians and the nation issued a sweeping rejection of extreme right-wing politics, nuclear power and unrelenting attacks on nature. Instead, they have voted for action on climate change, real protection for nature and a clean energy future.

Scott Reef – coral wonderland at risk from oil and gas industrialisation. Photo: Alex Westover.

Meanwhile, climate change is in full force and sandgropers are paying billions of dollars to tackle the crisis. The lack of rainfall in the south-west is desperate. Another six months of low rainfall will be devastating for already parched rivers, creeks and aquifers. Perth doesn't have enough rainfall to reliably provide water to its 2.3 million people. Billions have been and are about to be spent on making seawater drinkable. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on repairing flood-damaged roads, bridges, homes and infrastructure following the January 2023 floods in the Kimberley's Fitzroy Crossing. Forest collapse began in earnest after last year’s five-month dry spell in the south-west summer.

Fitzroy Crossing bridge collapsing in the biggest flood in WA's recorded history. Photo: Andrea Myers.

The science is unequivocal; emissions from burning fossil fuels are driving us towards an unrecognisable WA devoid of forests, coral reefs and tropical savannah, not to mention the increase in temperatures. More days over 35° and 40° are about to make life much more challenging, even dangerous, especially for the very young and old. According to the CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology, Fitzroy Crossing is headed for 225 days over 40 degrees by 2090 if we keep burning fossil fuels at the same rate. The conservative International Energy Agency has said that no more new fossil fuel basins can be opened if we are to have a safe climate.

The Albanese government knows this is happening. The choice it faces now is whether to greenlight Woodside and unleash billions of tonnes of carbon emissions by extending the North West Shelf project to 2070, drill and kill Scott Reef, and frack the Kimberley, or have the courage to reject these retrograde industries to protect our climate. The wrong decisions would cause untold damage to our climate-stressed forests, reefs and water.

World’s most intact tropical savannah under threat from climate change. Photo: Damian Kelly.

Younger generations can see and understand what’s happening as they flock to political parties and candidates who vow to fight for the interests of a future climate that will render the world habitable, will Albo heed them?

Will his government keep our climate safe, reject the North West Shelf extension and invest in the biggest rollout ever of clean energy and green industries? With two terms of government ahead for an Albanese government, what will be the fate of future generations resulting from its decisions?

This is the week that will determine the Albanese government’s bequest to future generations.

This will be your legacy, Prime Minister.

Martin Pritchard has been working on conservation in Western Australia for 25 years and is the Executive Director of Broome based conservation group Environs Kimberley.

Environs Kimberley (EK) has rejected Woodside’s just-announced changes to its Browse gas project on Scott Reef as ‘tinkering around the edges’.

The WA EPA is now seeking public comment on Woodside’s five proposed ‘Section 43A’ changes which the company claims will reduce the project’s environmental risks and impacts.

Executive Director of EK, Martin Pritchard, said the proposed changes would in no way change the fact that the Scott Reef project should never be approved.

“Scott Reef is a natural jewel off the Kimberley coast. There is no way that drilling, processing and piping gas in this living marine environment could ever be made environmentally acceptable.

“In 2024 it was revealed via an FOI application that the EPA had formed the ‘preliminary view’ that Woodside’s Browse proposal was environmentally unacceptable.  According to the documents, the EPA cited threats to endangered whales and turtles and the risk of an oil spill and concluded that the project posed threats of serious or irreversible damage.

“Woodside’s tinkering has done nothing to change the reality that its project is unacceptable.

Scott Reef. Photo: Wendy Mitchell.

“We are dealing with a global climate and extinction crisis caused in large part by fossil fuels. It makes absolutely no sense to locate a new fossil fuel project, which would result in millions of tonnes of additional GHG emissions, in an environment rich in rare and threatened marine life like Pygmy blue whales, dolphins, marine turtles and sea snakes, as well as countless fish and coral species.

“Instead of tinkering with the project and toying with the assessment process, Woodside should get serious and drop the whole proposal.”

Banner image: Scott Reef. Photo: Alex Westover.