The Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge
program (TRaCK) is a significant $30 million
research program that fills a major gap in
science and knowledge on Australia's tropical
rivers and estuaries. The information
generated by the TRaCK program will help governments,
communities and industries to make sustainable
management decisions for Australia¹s tropical
rivers and coasts.
The Mitchell River
is one of the four focus catchments; along with the Fitzroy (WA),
Daly (NT) and Flinders (Qld); in which TRaCK researchers are
carrying out the bulk of their research.
TRaCK
was established in 2007 as a research hub under
the Commonwealth Environment Research Facilities
Programme – the Australian Government’s
commitment to world-class public good environmental
research.
It brings together more than
70 of Australia’s leading researchers from
social, cultural, environmental and economic
disciplines to focus their expertise on the rivers
and coasts in the both the wet and dry tropics
stretching from Cape York across to Broome.
While not directly developing
policy, TRaCK is providing independent, objective
research to support decision makers and inform
public debate in northern Australia. The TRaCK
program will help ensure that any development
proposals, especially for use of water resources,
in Northern Australia will be sustainable.
What
is the scope of TRaCK?
The Mitchell is
one of several catchments in Northern Australia
in which TRaCK researchers are focussing their
attention. As noted by Hilary Kuhn (former chairperson
Mitchell River Watershed Management Group Inc)...
“The Mitchell River has the largest annual flow of
all tropical rivers in the country and is one of our most ecologically
diverse aquatic systems. Yet there are few comprehensive biological
and ecological studies of the catchment to date. Without the
science, it is difficult for us to manage the catchment sustainably.”
To build our knowledge and capacity
to manage the Mitchell, TRaCK researchers are
working with all levels of government,
regional NRM bodies, Indigenous communities,
agriculture, fishing, tourism and mining industries,
local land owners and other researchers to conduct
field work and build on the existing knowledge
about tropical rivers.
This work is being carried out
in the following seven research themes:
Values
and assets
Building an understanding of the range of values
the Mitchell River system has to different people
and how these can be better incorporated in decision
making.
Classifying
tropical rivers
Classifying river systems across northern Australia
based on features such as flow patterns. This
will help us understand what makes rivers such
as the Mitchell similar or different to other
rivers and underpin consistent policy development
and regional planning.
Water,
carbon, sediment and nutrients
Developing tools to predict how changes in land
use and climate will affect the source, amounts
and movement of water, carbon, sediment and nutrients
in the Mitchell.
Food
webs and biodiversity
Investigating the sources of energy (carbon)
and nutrients that drive ecosystems and how they
are transferred through food webs plus patterns
of aquatic biodiversity and what determines these
patterns.
Sustainable
enterprises
Identifying enterprises for remote and regional
communities based on sustainable and culturally
appropriate use of riverine and coastal resources.
Evaluating
scenarios
Bringing together the information and tools developed
in the other themes to explore the social, cultural,
environmental and economic implications of change
in the Mitchell.
Communicating
and integrating
Synthesising knowledge from the different themes
and tailoring it to local communities, catchment
and regional bodies, and government.
TRaCK responded to these research themes
through 29 specific projects. Twelve of
these projects did on-ground data collection
(including meetings and workshops) in the Mitchell
from 2008 - 2010. Yet other projects included
the Mitchell in a broader-scale, regional perspective.
These projects were primarily desktop exercises
using existing information including remotely
sensed data.
An information
sheet was produced to provide a brief description of
projects likely to be on the ground collecting data in the Mitchell
during 2008/9. It was followed by more detailed fact sheets
on each project. (http://www.track.gov.au/publications)
Creek-side discussion
at the initial TRaCK meeting at Karma
Waters, July 2007
