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E.M.T.R.I.E.
Course Overview
Coral Reefs are renowned as one of the most spectacular ecosystems on the planet. They reach their highest diversity in the Indo-Pacific Region, where the brilliant blue seas are sprinkled with a mosaic of lush green islands and turquoise reefs. These areas have been used by humans for tens of thousands of years, as sources of food, building materials, and transport. However, the growing populations and changing economic bases in many tropical countries are placing reef and island ecosystems under increasing pressure, and environmental degradation is widespread in many locations.
The Environmental Management of Tropical Reef & Island Ecosystems (EMTRIE) field course is designed to introduce students to the ecology of coral reefs, summarize the current status of reef and island ecosystems, and to discuss the options for sustainable environmental management of these areas into the future. The course runs in July each year, and the main location is on Magnetic Island, part of the Great Barrier Reef. The Island is situated 8km off the East Australian tropical coast near the large provincial city of Townsville (pop. 180,000). The island is perfectly placed as the accommodation base for such a course, and in addition forms a natural case study on Tropical Island & Reef Management.
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More than 75% of the island is protected
National Park, while the surrounding waters are part of the Great Barrier Reef
Marine Park and also the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. The island
has more than 20 beaches, many of which have well-developed coral reefs within
easy swimming distance of shore. However, the island also has 2,000 permanent
residents, suburban infrastructure, and a thriving environmental tourism industry.
This combination of factors provides a great opportunity for participants to
study both tropical island and reef ecology, as well as the strategies employed
to manage these ecosystems in the face of human development.
The EMTRIE course utilises a field-orientated
approach to learning, with students snorkelling on coral reefs at Magnetic Island,
and at Lizard Island in the Far Northern Great Barrier Reef. Lectures will cover
fundamentals of coral reef ecology, the current global status and health of
coral reefs, major management issues, and management strategies. In addition,
students will obtain practical experience in coral reef monitoring techniques,
and will collect and analyse data from several different reef locations. Participants
will spend the first week of the program on Magnetic Island, accommodated in
one of the Island's newest beachside backpacker resorts. The curriculum in the
first week will focus on introducing students to the marine and terrestrial
environments of Magnetic Island and the Great Barrier Reef, and discussion of
the global conservation status of coral reefs.
In the second week, students will transfer by bus to Cairns, which is 350km north of Townsville, and then fly north to Lizard Island Research Station.
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Lizard Island is situated in the
pristine northern section of the Great Barrier Reef marine park, and it has
extremely diverse reef communities. The curriculum in the second week will focus
on study of the ecology of coral reefs. Students will snorkel twice daily on
various reefs around Lizard Island, and gain hands-on experience in the collection
of coral reef monitoring data.
The group then returns to Magnetic
Island for the remaining 14 days of the program. By this stage of the course,
the students have a good knowledge of reef ecology and also have learnt about
the threats facing coral reefs on local and global scales. The curriculum now
turns to study of the strategies and plans used to manage coral reef ecosystems
in both developed countries like Australia, and many of the poorer countries
in the nearby Indo-Pacific region. Students will also continue an active field
program, collecting monitoring data from Magnetic Island to compare with those
data taken at Lizard Island, and this data set will form the basis of a formal
research paper to be submitted at then end of the course. Additional assessment
will be in the form of an assignment and a 3-hour written examination. Students
will also hike many of the National park trails on Magnetic Island to view the
abundant local wildlife, which includes koalas, rock wallabies, possums, currawongs
and 2 species of kookaburras.
In summary, this course allows students to take part in an intensive field-orientated learning process that contributes credit to their tertiary degree. They will obtain first hand understanding of the ecology of coral reefs, the threats facing reefs on both local and global scales, and the most up-to-date management strategies used to protect these diverse marine ecosystems. In addition, they will experience life on an Australian tropical island with its unique social and environmental values.