Junior Rangers’ coastal cleanup and ghost net surveys
Aims and overview
Aak Puul Ngantam (APN) Land and Sea Rangers collaborated with Koolkan Aurukun State School (KASS) Junior Rangers to undertake a coastal cleanup of marine debris and survey ghost nets. The cleanup occurred along a remote stretch of coastline near Love River, a culturally significant area on Southern Wik Homelands on western Cape York Peninsula.
The project contributed to the Learning on Country program, a partnership between APN Rangers and KASS. The program, which includes a Junior Ranger program, aims to build local capability in Indigenous land and sea management with a focus on young people.
Junior Rangers, who are enrolled in a Certificate II in Conservation and Ecosystem Management (CEM), worked alongside APN Rangers over six days to learn aspects of caring for country. Love River Traditional Owners also attended the camp to support cultural safety and local traditional knowledge transfer. The program focused on marine debris (ghost net) cleanup and aerial turtle nest surveying.
Undertaking thisproject, involving a large, logistically challenging remote area operation, was a major achievement for the APN Rangers.
Activities and outcomes
In February 2023, APN Cape York received funding to implement a marine debris cleanup activity, including a coastal camp with the use of a mothership.
They successfully sought funds for vessel charter and the collaboration began with the Learning on Country Program and KASS students undertaking a Cert II in CEM. Beach clean-up activities and training with Rangers around biosecurity issues and marine debris surveys had been undertaken for several years prior to this event.
Over a 10-day period in May 2024, 10 APN Rangers, six students, four Traditional Owners and other support crews set up a beach camp at the Love River mouth with all the field gear and equipment required to undertake a remote beach clean, including 2 x UTVs and 2 x ATVs. The charter vessel was used as a mother ship and as accommodation for students and teachers, as well as providing meals and transfers to the beach camp. Over five days of beach clean-up activities, 170 bags of rubbish were collected with a total weight of 1082kg.
Students also took part in a helicopter flight with an APN Ranger to learn about the significance and purpose of aerial surveying in turtle nesting season.
The project led to positive outcomes for students, rangers, Traditional Owners, community and Country.
Students had the opportunity to work alongside experienced rangers; and gained skills and knowledge that will be invaluable for their understanding of caring for Country from a conservation and ecosystem perspective. They witnessed how the removal of debris significantly contributed to the health of the local ecosystem, particularly in reducing hazards for marine life and caring for culturally significant places.
Rangers gained experience and capability in coastal management with the use of larger more complex marine vessels, and complicated logistics. Traditional Owners had the chance to access Country and share local ecological knowledge, and family members participated with hands-on learning on Country, leading to positive cultural and social outcomes.
This was the largest beach clean-up effort undertaken on this stretch of coastline to-date. With several kilometres of coastline surveyed and cleaned and over a tonne of rubbish removed, the benefits to this important marine habitat—a high-density marine turtle nesting rookery for endemic flatback turtles and critically endangered Olive Ridley turtles—are immense.
Learnings and next steps
The camp was held too early for students to witness turtle nesting, so future camps could be planned for later in the year to overlap with turtle nesting and hatching periods.
Joint programming between generations is important to keep culture alive, and future Learning on Country programs will see more collaborative activities with Rangers and Elders.
The next steps for the project are to investigate acquiring more suitable vessels to undertake activities more frequently and incorporate into a comprehensive program of coastal patrols and surveillance, visitor compliance, and recreational and commercial fishing compliance, without seasonal limitations.