Instead of approving their destruction, Minister Ley, please put the PM’s words into action and protect and enhance Toondah’s wetlands to capture blue carbon greenhouse gases.

Blue carbon delivers better bang for buck compared to terrestrial projects like forest regrowth because wetlands and seagrasses can store 3-5 times more carbon per hectare compared to other ecosystems, says National University of Singapore Associate Professor Daniel Friess.

“These mangrove environments are often referred to as the lungs of the ocean. Some might even call them the liver of the ocean in the cleansing impact they have,” Prime Minister Morrison said.

Millions of hectares of mangroves, salt marshes and seagrasses have been lost, taking with them invaluable fish and bird nurseries as well as buffer zones against storms, coastal erosion, even future sea level rise.

In Australia and elsewhere, estuaries and coastal wetlands have been replaced by engineering and infrastructure. They’ve been filled in, drained off and dug up to make way for agriculture and urban development. Let’s not lose more to a canal development over a Ramsar wetland at Cleveland.

Toondah is an obvious part of the solution to fixing planet pollution!