ABC Kimberley: Claire Moodie

Broome's magical kingdom and the fight to protect it

On Mornings with Vanessa Mills

It might not be everyone's idea of fun…traipsing around in ankle-deep mud…monitoring the seagrass meadows in Broome's Roebuck Bay.

But, spend five minutes with Fi West, the coordinator of Broome's seagrass monitoring project and you'll be a convert to the cause.

"Seagrass is one of the most phenomenal things in the world and I am so excited for people globally to understand this," she says.

"It's a very powerful bio indicator so a community group can get out there, monitor the seagrass over time and that monitoring data will tell you about the entire marine area.

"Here in Broome, it's the main food of turtle and dugong.

"In fact, it's the only food that dugong eat and they can eat up to 40 kilograms of seagrass per day which is a huge amount."

The monitoring started 12 years ago with a small team of volunteers as a way of safeguarding the health of the Ramsar-listed bay and the marine creatures within there is an army of 200 volunteers.

The group has recently taken on a fourth monitoring site, east of Broome, within the Yawuru Nagulagun/Roebuck Bay Marine Park.

But, just as it prepares to expand, its funding for next financial year is uncertain.

Vital government funds are not guaranteed and the project hangs in the balance.

Duration: 9min 27sec