Developing an ecosystem health report card

This is a collaborative effort between Charles Darwin University, Darwin Harbour Advisory Committee, The Ian Potter Foundation and several other industry partners. Associate Professor Cara Beal leads the Qld research team which includes Project Manager Simon Costanzo from Darwinian Consulting, to build The Darwin Harbour Report Card which will report on the ecological, social, Indigenous cultural, and economic health of Darwin Harbour. The Darwin Harbour Report Card will provide performance driven numeric grades that reflect the health of the harbour on a regular basis.

6 Clean water and sanitation

Sustainable Development Goals

Griffith University is aligned with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is committed to addressing global water-related challenges to ensure a sustainable future where clean water is accessible to all.

Project partners

Center for environmental science
The Ian Potter Foundation
International water care
Charles Darwin University
City of Darwin
Inpex
LDC
Northern Territory Government
Santos
Darwinian Consulting

Rationale

Darwin Harbour supports the Northern Territory of Australia’s largest concentration of commerce and industry. It is home to most of the Northern Territory’s residents, and is the country of Traditional Owners, specifically the Larrakia people.

Darwin Harbour’s diverse ecosystems, including relatively intact mangrove systems, coral reefs, mudflats and seagrass beds, support high biodiversity and provide habitat for nesting turtles, dolphins, dugong, migratory shorebirds, and fish.

Project approach

Initial workshops to identify values were held with various stakeholders from government, industry, academia, indigenous communities, and NGO’s.

Discussions were focussed on the environmental, indigenous cultural, social and economic themes within Darwin Harbour. Stakeholders were then tasked with choosing indicators and thresholds that have potential to measure the health
of these values.

Project outcomes

With the findings now complete, the Darwin Harbour Report Card was presented to the stakeholders for their review and input in August 2021.

Recommendations

Twelve recommendations were presented to stakeholders spanning a number of areas including clean water, biodiversity, Indigenous values, management, jobs.

Connect and collaborate

For more information