Congratulations

Congratulations to the Northern Gulf Resource Management Group, QLD for their recent 2007 Banksia Award:
indigenous award winner  "Caring For Country" Carpentaria Ghost Nets Programme

The Banksia Environmental Awards is a celebration of the tireless efforts of individuals, companies and organisations who share a passion for protecting Australia's environmental heritage and minimising our global footprint.

This award is supported by the Australian Government Natural Heritage Trust.

For more information visit click here

About the Ghost Nets Project

Ghost Nets are simply fishing nets that have either been lost or discarded at sea. For decades they have killed thousands of turtles, dolphins, dugongs and other marine life.

These nets are recognised throughout the world as a menace to all marine wild life and in the Gulf region they are a real threat to turtles & dugongs. Recently along the Mapoon coastline in the Gulf of Carpentaria, local rangers and volunteers found 47 dead turtles caught in some of the 505 nets strewn along the coast.

Clean Up Australia is working with traditional owners, conservationists, private enterprise, scientists & government representatives from all parts of the Gulf of Carpentaria as part of the Steering Committee for Ghost Nets.

The Carpentaria Ghost Net Programme aims to reduce the impact of ghost nets by removing them from our beaches and recording information about the origins of the nets, mortality rates of marine life trapped. This information will be reported to the Australian government who will then be able to use it to negotiate with our northern neighbors to stop the nets from being discarded.

To learn more about the Ghost Nets Project, please visit The Carpentaria Ghost Net Programme Website

For more information please contact Terrie-Ann Johnson, Clean Up Australia on (02) 9692 1222