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Writer's pictureEma Australia

Educational Marine Areas first field event at Gnarabup was a success!

Updated: Dec 7, 2023

Margaret River’s Gnarabup Beach was selected as the first spot in Australia to expand the program in partnership with Nature Conservation Margaret River Region. The program kicked off on the 3rd April with four Year 5 classes from Margaret River Primary School, thanks to seed funding from Cape Mentelle.

The student citizen scientists learned about the marine significance of Gnarabup from Undalup Association Inc.’s Shannon Clohessy, identified coastal birdlife with Birdlife WA’s Christine Wilder, and spotted and discussed marine life with scientists Tim Langlois ( Ocean’s Institute of the University of Western Australia), Kim Lema and Pierre Bouvais (EMA Australia).

They also explored waves and erosion with Claudia França de Abreu from Coastal Connections, and hit the water to learn about the Ngari Capes Marine Park with hands-on activities led by Great Southern Reef Foundation and the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions experts.

Nature Conservation’s local coordinator Tracey Muir says the students relished swapping the classroom for the beach and were fascinated to learn more about our coastline and ocean conservation. “We had an awesome morning with the Year 5’s from Margaret River Primary School, exploring the ocean and the coastline, learning about the birds and the unique marine life here,” she said.

MRPS principal Aaron Thomas says he was “really pleased the kids can be down here learning how to take care of their patch and how the reef system is really important to this little part of country”.

Nature Conservation general manager Drew McKenzie says we're now hoping to attract major donor funding to roll out the program to Year 5 classes across the entire Margaret River region this year and beyond.

“The ocean is so central to what we all love about this special part of the world, and the EMA project is a really powerful way to engage young people to become stewards of the ocean and the coast,” Drew says.



Students learning about WA's Coastal Ecosystem
Educational Marine Areas



Students learning about WA's Coastal Ecosystem
EMA project

Students learning about WA's Coastal Ecosystem
Margaret River Educational Marine Areas

Students learning about WA's Coastal Ecosystem
Educational Marine Areas

Students learning about WA's Coastal Ecosystem


Students learning about WA's Coastal Ecosystem


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