Field surveys to investigate the status of mangroves impacted by oil spills, were undertaken between December 1996 and April 1997. Nine sites were investigated, based initially on information supplied by the APPEA Research Working Group and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. The site locations surveyed include: Torres Strait, Queensland; Cape Flattery, Queensland; Yorkeys Knob, near Cairns, Queensland; Botany Bay, Sydney, New South Wales; Parramatta River, Sydney, New South Wales; Spencer Gulf, South Australia; Cape Lambert, Western Australia; Johns Creek, Point Samson, Western Australia; Withnell Bay, Western Australia. These sites included most of the sites around the Australian coastine where mangroves had been affected by oil spills between 1970 and 1996.For each site measurements were made of tree and seedling condition, sediments were sampled for hydrocarbon analyses, an incident report was compiled using a standard format and information was collected on any prior studies conducted at each site (see Data Quality for further details).

This research was a component of the project "Fate and effects of oil and dispersed oil on mangrove ecosystems in Australia" and was undertaken to provide a assessment of the longer term impacts of oil spills on mangrove habitat. The objectives of these surveys were:1) to assess damage to mangrove habitat, particularly deforestation, if any;2) to describe the status, recovery and recruitment of trees following the spill;3) to determine the current status of hydrocarbons in the sediments, and4) to systematically document the findings in standardised case study reports

All sites, but one, were visited by the research team. The site near Port Pirie in Spencer Gulf was inaccessible at the time of the survey, and the team relied on data collected for the South Australian Department of Environment and Land Management.