Indigenous knowledge helps reveal the ties between reefs and mangroves

A study in Ocean & Coastal Management, co-authored by Bardi Jawi and Oorany Rangers and Traditional Owners alongside AIMS scientists, found that ten fish species important to Bardi Jawi fishing move between reef and mangrove ecosystems well beyond the juvenile nursery stage, aided by Kimberley tidal patterns.

The decade-long collaboration in northwestern Australia helped shape both the 95,000-hectare Bardi Jawi Indigenous Protected Area and the 204,000-hectare Bardi Jawi Gaarra Marine Park's zoning scheme. Researchers say the Bardi Jawi's traditional ecological knowledge guided site selection and timing, while their holistic framework connecting songlines, kinship and ecology shaped how the data were interpreted.

Lead author Katherine Cure noted the findings confirmed what Traditional Owners already understood, while offering new detail on which species use mangroves as refuges rather than mere nurseries. Ranger coordinator Phillip 'Bibido' McCarthy said the science simply verified generations of observation.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.