The red mangroves of Port Douglas, Queensland

Apart from the spectacular Four Mile Beach, Port Douglas in northern Queensland has an interesting network of mangroves.

Cruise tours take tourists into Dickson Inlet to see the wildlife of the unspoilt mangrove channels. The estuarine habitat includes saltwater crocodiles, but also many birds, such as sea eagles, kites, ospreys, kingfishers, herons, and waders. Barramundi fish and mud crabs also live in the mangroves.

Dickson Inlet is an Estuarine Conservation Zone of the Great Barrier Reef Coast Marine Park and an area of state significance. The inlet has red mangroves and other salt-tolerant vegetation. Red mangroves (Rhizophora stylosa) are common across coastal northern Australia. They grow up to 20 metres high with a straight trunk covered in rough, reddish-brown bark. They also have distinctive roots that are thick and arching. On the roots there are numerous lenticels (air pores) that help the plant breathe in the saltwater. Their leaves are oval and quite thick. Small white flowers can also be seen.

http://www.daff.qld.gov.au/28_9227.htm

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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