Excerpt from statements.qld.gov.au
In a remote, northern corner of the Great Barrier Reef, restoration work on a small island has helped save hundreds of green turtles and ensured hundreds of thousands of hatchlings have successfully scurried to the ocean.
Minister for Environment and Science Meaghan Scanlon said Raine Island, within Wuthathi Sea Country and Meriam Nations sea country, was potentially the most important green turtle rookery on the planet.
“Raine Island is about 620km north of Cairns and it’s estimated that during a big season up to 100,000 green turtles nest annually on the Island, which is a vegetated coral cay about 27 hectares in size,” Ms Scanlon said.
“The Raine Island Recovery Project began in 2015 to restore and protect the island and help prevent turtle deaths after they had laid their eggs.
“Around 40,000 cubic metres of sand was moved by heavy machinery to reprofile 35,000 square metres of nesting beach and raise it above tidal inundation levels.
“The beach reprofiling works have doubled the amount of viable nesting habitat, saving hundreds of thousands of turtle eggs from being drowned by tidal inundation each nesting season.
“Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service rangers, together with the Traditional Owners have worked tirelessly to prevent nesting turtle deaths from cliff falls by installing 1750m of custom-made turtle proof fencing.”
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