Marine Debris Project Final Report 2014

entanglement in derelict fishing gear, based upon a collaborative project with GhostNets Australia andIndigenous rangers (results presented in Section 6.2 and Appendices A and B).In addition to developing new information which can be used to understand individual, population, andspecies level exposure to this anthropogenic threat, the project had a number of successful educationaloutcomes. Collaboration with Earthwatch Australia in developing school and citizen science engagementhas greatly enhanced both the awareness of marine wildlife and the importance of this threat, along withenriching the educational experience of the students involved in the program. The research carried out bythe CSIRO team with the support of TeachWild participants has been integrated to evaluate the risk marinedebris poses to Australian wildlife. Findings from the work have also been provided to the Commonwealthgovernment, to the science community, and to international organizations and to other interested parties.Overall, we met or exceeded each of our hopes and expectations and successfully built an inquiry-basedlearning environment for the next generation of leaders in Australia.Finally, project staff were able to develop a number of outputs identifying opportunities and actions thatcould reduce the input of debris into the marine environment. We used the coastal survey data,supplemented with interviews with more than 40 coastal councils around the country to evaluate whetherlocal policies had either a positive or negative effect on the rate of input of debris. We found that overallinvestment or facilities had little impact on debris. However, councils that had targeted part of their budgetspecifically to address debris were successful in reducing it. The most effective actions were those thatinvolved waste facilities at coastal sites, but also prosecution of illegal dumping and outreach to the localpopulace. We also found a wide range of investments, facilities, and programs that did not have ademonstrable effect. However, councils where debris accumulated were generally aware of the issue, andgenerally had well target programs. One area of potential improvement would be addressing policies incouncils that are sources of debris, as there was less evidence that these councils were aware or active withrespect to this issue.In addition to these research activities, project staff were involved in a wide range of scientificengagements and policy engagements. The research outputs are summarized throughout the relevantsections (particularly Parts V, VI and VII). There was significant interest at the local, national, internationallevels for a wide range of outputs from the project, ranging from professional advice to research tools andoutputs. Project staff engaged with coastal councils, state governments, natural resources managementbodies, the commonwealth government, foreign governments, NGOs involved in marine debris issues, andinternational policy and management bodies over the course of the project, in addition to Australian8 | Understanding the effects of marine debris on wildlife