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Reef & Rainforest Research Centre

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Reef & Rainforest Research Centre

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We connect science, communities, Traditional Owners, industry and government to tackle complex environmental and social challenges.

We design and deliver collaborative research, practical programs and lasting outcomes across northern Australia.

25/10/2026

It's a full moon. The corals are paying attention.

Corals on the Great Barrier Reef use the moon's light and pull to time when they spawn. In the week after the full moon, parts of the Reef will fill with millions of tiny pink, yellow, and orange bundles.

They've been getting ready for about six months.

Once fertilised, the eggs become larvae that drift for days or weeks before settling on the reef and starting new coral.

Learn more about RRRC’s research on coral restoration at rrrc.org.au.

19/10/2026

Every time it rains on a cane farm in Far North Queensland, some of that water ends up on the Great Barrier Reef.

It runs off the paddocks, into creeks and rivers, and out into the Reef lagoon. When there's fertiliser on the paddock, nitrogen goes with it. Out on the Reef, that nitrogen feeds algae and weakens inshore coral.

In the Mulgrave-Russell catchment, cane farmers, scientists, and Traditional Owners have worked with RRRC to change that. Better data and more precise fertiliser use mean less nitrogen now reaches the Reef each year, and the farms are still productive.

This week is . Water is life, and it connects everything.

In Far North Queensland, cane farms and coral reefs rely on the same water.

Learn more at rrrc.org.au.

Working with the NESP TWQ Hub.

Australian Water Association

08/10/2026

Invasive spotted tilapia don't just live in Far North Queensland's cane drains. They're reshaping them, and that's making them harder to get rid of.

As the fish feed and build nests, they dig into the drain bed, carving out pits and trenches that can grow into larger holes over time.

That's a problem for cane growers, since it can damage the drains themselves.

That’s a problem downstream, since loose sediment can wash into waterways during the wet season.

That’s also a problem for getting rid of the invasive species.

The holes the tilapia dig hold water, giving the fish a place to shelter during dry seasons. The more they dig, the better their own hiding spots become, and the better those hiding spots are, the more tilapia survive to keep digging.

Over two dry seasons, Madjaybana Rangers, working with scientists and local landholders, used drone surveillance to locate and remove more than 1,500 of the invasive fish. At some sites, more than 95% of visually observed tilapia were removed.

The work is part of the Australian Government-funded Reef Coastal Restoration Project, led by Reef & Rainforest Research Centre in partnership with the Madjandji Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC, local landholders and regional organisations.

Learn more at rrrc.org.au.

08/10/2026

Wonderful to see our close partners at INLOC PNG contributing to important conversations about community-led climate adaptation at PreCOP31 in Fiji. Great also to see Dr Tammie Matson and the team supporting locally informed approaches to climate resilience across Papua New Guinea and the Pacific.

Congratulations to everyone involved!

04/10/2026

The flatback sea turtle is the only sea turtle species in the world that nests in just one country, Australia. And it never leaves home.

While other turtle hatchlings swim into the open ocean, flatback hatchlings stay close to the continental shelf and coast their whole lives.

That closeness is also what makes it vulnerable. Whatever happens to the coast happens to the turtle.

A new nesting assessment in the Uunguu Indigenous Protected Area is working to protect that habitat, led by the Wunambal Gaambera Aboriginal Corporation Uunguu Life with Bush Heritage Australia, the project is mapping the nesting grounds flatbacks cannot do without.

Protect the coast, and you protect the turtles.

Learn more about RRRC's partnerships at rrrc.org.au.

Coordinated through the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub, co-led by RRRC.

02/10/2026

For more than a century, researchers have been collecting records of seagrass across northern Australia. Until now, no one had pieced them together into a clear picture of where seagrass grows, or how much is left.

Across thousands of kilometres of remote coastline, seagrass meadows support fisheries, cultural heritage, and threatened species like dugongs and turtles.

To close the research gap, the team at TropWATER at JCU: James Cook University, Australia combined historical records dating back to the 1880s with new surveys conducted by boat, drone, helicopter and on foot, working alongside more than 20 Ranger groups across the region.

The result is a public map of seagrass stretching from northern Western Australia to the Queensland coast: the Tiwi Islands, South East Arnhem Land, the Gulf of Carpentaria and Torres Strait.

Communities and managers can now see what's there, track how it's changing, and make even better plans to protect it.

Delivered through the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub co-led by RRRC, with TropWater at James Cook University, Charles Darwin University, Edith Cowan University (ECU), and Traditional Owner and Ranger groups across northern Australia, and funded by the Northern Territory Government, Parks Australia, the Torres Strait Regional Authority, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, and the Queensland Government.

Learn more at rrrc.org.au.

23/09/2026

Good research starts with the people who already know the land and sea.

That's the idea behind the National Indigenous Environmental Research Network (NIERN), an Indigenous-led initiative with a simple goal: let Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities set their own research priorities, then carry them out through real partnerships.

Traditional Owners set the research priorities.
Culturally safe standards guide how the work gets done.
Traditional Knowledge and western science build expertise off each other, as equals.

This week, RRRC's Dr Sheriden Morris is in Cairns for the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance Ltd (NAILSMA) Reimagining Conservation Forum, on Gimuy Walubara Yidinji Country, joining Traditional Owners and conservation practitioners for a few days built on that same idea: conservation led by Indigenous knowledge and Traditional Owners.

Learn more about RRRC's work with Traditional Owners at rrrc.org.au.

07/09/2026

Four of the world's five sawfish species have their last surviving populations in northern Australia.

Today is National Threatened Species Day.

Sawfish are ancient, shark-like rays that grow up to 7 metres, and they hold considerable significance for First Nations Australians. Every species is now listed as endangered or critically endangered.

How many remain is largely unknown. Scientific data on Australian sawfish populations is limited, which makes it hard to judge how critical the situation is or how best to protect them.

Commercial fishers in the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Northern Territory have joined researchers from CSIRO and Charles Darwin University to find out. Fishers now record the sawfish they catch as bycatch, collect tissue samples, and fit satellite tags before release.

Forty have been tagged so far. The largest, at 5.7 metres, travelled 1,000 kilometres in two months, from the west side of Cape York to near Croker Island.

The project runs through the National Environmental Science Program Marine and Coastal Hub, which RRRC co-leads.

Explore the research at rrrc.org.au.

CSIRO | Charles Darwin University

02/09/2026

Over the last 20 years, the Reef & Rainforest Research Centre (RRRC) has delivered more than $600 million in environmental programs across northern Australia, Papua New Guinea, and the Torres Strait, transforming world-class science into practical solutions that protect ecosystems and strengthen communities.

Through our network of over 80 partners – including Traditional Owners, researchers, government, industry, and community organisations – we’re brokering knowledge by ensuring science is co-designed, communicated, and applied where it matters most.

Working together, we’re translating evidence into action, fostering innovation, and building capacity on the ground, to achieve lasting impact for people and ecosystems.

Learn more about RRRC at rrrc.org.au.

21/07/2026

Standing room only for coral reef interventions at 🌏🪸

There was a palpable sense of urgency–and optimism–at the Reef & Rainforest Research Centre’s (RRRC) session on Interventions to Improve Outcomes for Coral Reefs during the 16th International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS) in Auckland, New Zealand.

With coral reefs facing unprecedented pressures from climate change, ocean acidification, declining water quality, and other local threats, researchers and practitioners from around the world came together to share practical, evidence-based solutions that can improve reef resilience and support communities that depend on them.

The session featured inspiring case studies from across the globe, including:

🪸 Dr Barbara Ribeiro (KAUST), who presented on developing emergency response plans for Red Sea coral reefs.

🪸 Marylaura Sandoval Siles, who shared lessons learned from more than a decade of coral reef restoration in Costa Rica.

The enthusiastic turnout highlighted the growing global appetite for collaborative action, knowledge exchange, and practical interventions that complement efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Hosted for the first time in New Zealand, ICRS2026 brings together the world’s leading coral reef scientists, managers, Traditional Knowledge holders, governments, NGOs, and industry to help shape a more resilient future for coral reefs across Oceania and beyond.

Working together to ensure a future for coral reefs.

Address

Suite F4, Level 1, The Conservatory Building, 9 Abbott Street
Cairns, QLD
4870

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 4pm
Tuesday	9am - 4pm
Wednesday	9am - 4pm
Thursday	9am - 4pm
Friday	9am - 4pm

Website

http://www.rrrc.org.au/

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