Australia's Great Barrier Reef has a silent, largely unheralded protector: salt marshes. These muddy patches just inland from coastal mangrove forests play crucial roles in keeping the reef as healthy as possible.
Which is why it's a big bummer people have been off-roading right through them.
What's happening?
Ecologists in the area were dismayed recently when they noticed deep tire ruts blasting through the salt marshes at Agnes Water, a popular vacation spot 500 kilometers (310.7 miles) north of Brisbane, near the southern fringe of the Great Barrier Reef.
According to ABC News, all of the salt marshes at Agnes Water have been damaged by four-wheel drive vehicles. Though there are signs posted warning vehicles to stay out, enough drivers ignore them to cause a real problem in the salt marshes — all for the sake of some muddy thrills.
Why are these salt marshes so important?
Salt marshes play a crucial role in the health of the Great Barrier Reef. Most immediately, they serve as filters, helping clean runoff as it rushes from land to the sea to the reef, according to biologist Jock Mackenzie of Earthwatch Australia.
Young fish also grow up swimming in the salt marshes before they graduate to the open ocean off the Queensland coast. The salt marshes provide an invaluable nursery for the fish population of the Great Barrier Reef.
That's why the salt marshes are protected under the Queensland Fisheries Act, according to ABC News. Not all off-road drivers respect that protection, however.
What's being done to protect them?
Thankfully, citizens are stepping up to help save the salt marshes.
A woman named Lisa Del Riccio started a citizen science program called Saltmarsh Savers that collects annual data from visitors about what they see at the salt marshes.
🗣️ Do you think America does a good job of protecting its natural beauty?
🔘 Definitely 👍
🔘 Only in some areas ☝️
🔘 No way 👎
🔘 I'm not sure 🤷
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
The idea is to spread awareness of how important these salt marshes — which many view as lifeless mudflats — are to the health of the ecosystem.
"People don't come onto the [salt marsh] to destroy it," Del Riccio told ABC News. "They just don't know the values and that what they're driving over is actually mostly a living organism."
Unfortunately, the damage these drivers cause can last decades.
"We know that it takes over 30 years for a [salt marsh] habitat to recover from vehicle impacts," said Mackenzie. "If they do recover."
Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Cool Picks
