New plans to monitor freshwater turtles in the Northern Territory will include the involvement of First Nations rangers and their knowledge from the field.

A one-day workshop was held with First Nations rangers and researchers from Charles Darwin University on April 6 to discuss freshwater turtles, conservation advice, how they should be cared for, monitored and looked after.

It comes after the Indigenous Salt Water Advisory Group launched a 10 year plan for turtle and dugong conversation in December 2021.

There are 10 freshwater turtle species in the Northern Territory and the workshop focused especially on the preservation of the Cann's long-necked turtle, pig-nosed turtle and gulf snapping turtle.

CDU researcher Carla Eisemberg said the information gathered from the turtle workshop will impact freshwater turtle conservation and policy in the long-term.

"First Nations people have a vast knowledge of our animals and they should be consulted before any research and decisions about the management of threatened specify in the Territory and Australia," she said.

"There is a lot more research that needs to be done when it comes to the conservation and future protection of freshwater turtles in the Territory.

"Most of these ranger groups are keen to kickstart more turtle research on country, and this workshop is a fantastic way to start these conversations so we can see more research happening in the future across the NT."

Njanjma Aboriginal Corporation executive officer and ranger coordinator Patricia James-Tonson said working with CDU through these workshops was a step towards understanding turtle conservation in NT better.

"Here in the NT, we have the largest population of freshwater turtles throughout the world," she said.

"We use turtles for tools, cultural practices and we also use freshwater turtles for food.

"Working with CDU and combining our knowledge from the workshop there's a lot of stuff even the scientists didn't know about, even just about identifying the turtles, where the turtles are located, how some survive in certain areas without water."

As part of their time working with CDU, the rangers have identified a new species of turtle in the Roper River.

"The scientists at CDU they're teaching us to trap and test turtles and they've had a positive outcome with identifying the new turtle," Ms James-Tonson said.

"They have a distinct pink marking on their neck and it's also poisonous for people to consume.

"There's been a large number of them popping up."

Ms James-Tonson said they hoped to keep threats such as pollution at bay.

"There's such a cultural significance behind the turtles," she said.

"We really need to work on ways to stop pollution and to keep the freshwater turtle population alive.

"Especially we're finding out that in other areas outside of Australia, their freshwater turtle populations have gone extinct so we don't want that happening with our turtles."

The ranger groups will participate in STEM activities as part of a Virtual Reality workshop and a drone workshop later this year.