Coastal ecosystems

Coastal ecosystems of the Great Barrier Reef are mostly terrestrial and encompass the top of the Catchment to inshore. These ecosystems include saltmarshes, freshwater wetlands, forested floodplains, heath and shrublands, grass and sedgelands, woodlands and forests and rainforests.

Each coastal ecosystem is interconnected and provides several supporting processes important for a healthy Reef. Saltmarshes provide feeding areas for marine and terrestrial species, freshwater wetlands filter nutrients from land-based run-off, woodlands and forests sequester carbon, grass and sedgelands slow hydrological flows to allow sediments to settle before reaching the ocean and heath and shrublands stabilise soils to mitigate erosion. 

First Nations peoples are the traditional custodians of these ecosystems, and their enduring connection has supported their health and the health of the Reef for millennia.