Two days of data collection at Towra point !!

Citizen Scientists from Sydney joined us in the field on Sept 26 and 27. Days started early at HSBC’s Barangaroo office where HSBC, Earthwatch, and the Blue Carbon Lab gave presentations on corporate sustainability, natural capital and coastal wetlands.

Participants then traveled together to Towra Point Ramsar site. A 600 ha nature reserve in Botany Bay, hosting 40% of the mangroves and 60% of the tidal marshes in the Sydney the region.

Dr Maria Palacios introduced participants to the ecology of Australian coastal wetlands and demonstrated the field sampling protocols.

Citizen scientists used google maps on their smart phones to find sampling points over a 40,000 m2 grid covering mangroves (grey and river) and salt marshes (i.e., succulents, marine grass, rushes).

On each sampling point, participants set 100 m2 plots and quadrants where they surveyed the vegetation by identifying species, measuring tree heights, canopy widths, counting aerial roots, and looking for crab holes. Participants also collected soil cores that will be analysed for carbon content and particle size.

Fieldwork was extremely successful and efficient, despite the late start of the thursday team (due to a truck on fire blocking the access road) and the challenge of sampling some of points (included >20 trees with weird canopies and many stems or >200 mangrove seedlings). All together, participants sampled 20 points of the grid and took 40 soil cores!

At the end of the day, Dr Maria Garcia (Earthwatch) led a discussion on how participants could reduce their carbon footprint at home and work.

Many thanks to all our new members of the #BlueCarbonArmy who became Blue Carbon scientists for a day !!