Parks Victoria: Ramsar Wetlands page

In a climate characterised by its extreme conditions - including prolonged periods of drought - wetlands take on even greater importance. As water resources become more and more scarce, many wetlands continue to provide refuge in an otherwise dry landscape. A wide range of threatened plants and animals depend on healthy wetlands for their survival. When the drought eventually breaks, wetlands will assist in moderating floods and erosion by holding and slowly releasing large volumes of water.

Large-scale geological processes, combined with relatively low nutrient levels and extreme climatic conditions, have helped shape our wetlands over thousands of years. The end result is a large number of wetlands with very high levels of biodiversity and unique ecological character. Victoria has a diverse range of wetlands including alpine bogs, River Red Gum forests, saltmarshes, mangroves, floodplain billabongs and inland hypersaline lakes.

"These areas are particularly valuable for their unique ecosystems and the ecological communities they support" said John Thwaites, Victorian Minister for Environment and Water, on releasing five new wetland management plans.

Wetlands also perform vital natural functions such as stabilising shorelines, maintaining water flows, and purifying waterways by filtering sediments and recycling nutrients. Eleven of Victoria's wetlands are so important they are internationally recognised under the Convention on Wetlands. Victoria's wetlands are increasingly popular as tourist destinations - for example, Gippsland Lakes, Barmah Forest and Kerang Wetlands continue to experience large numbers of visitors and offer a range of recreational opportunities.

Barmah

There are many other things about our Ramsar wetlands that many people are unaware of. For example, did you know…

Victoria's Ramsar sites are home to as many as 1,300 species of native plants and 450 species of native animals, including more than 100 species of waterbirds?
Lake Corangamite, part of the Western District Lakes Ramsar site, is the largest permanent saltwater lake in Australia?
The Western Port Ramsar site contains 3 of Victoria's 13 Marine National Parks?
Tens of thousands of migratory birds (some weighing in at less than 30 grams) travel from the Northern Hemisphere to visit our coastal wetlands each year?

It is important that we recognise the important environmental, economic and social value of these wetlands. At the same time we need to appreciate that wetlands are fragile systems. Since European settlement, Victoria has lost more than 37 per cent of its wetland areas to degrading processes such as land clearing and draining. An alarming 90 per cent of this loss has occurred on private land. Natural resource managers, together with the community, need to work harder than ever to protect our remaining wetlands before they are lost forever.

Convention on Wetlands

Australia, and therefore Victoria, became a signatory to the Convention on Wetlands when it was signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971. The Convention on Wetlands - also referred to as the Ramsar Convention - now has more than 130 member countries. There are currently more than 1,300 wetlands listed under the Convention with a combined area of over 110 million hectares. The Convention on Wetlands provides guidance on preparing national policies, legislation and tools for managing wetlands.

Eleven of Victoria's wetlands are listed as Ramsar sites under the Convention on Wetlands. Ten of these were listed in 1982 and include: Corner Inlet, Gippsland Lakes, Barmah Forest, Gunbower Forest, Hattah-Kulkyne Lakes, Kerang Wetlands, Lake Albacutya, Port Phillip Bay (Western Shoreline) and Bellarine Peninsula, Western District Lakes, and Western Port. Victoria's latest Ramsar site is the Edithvale-Seaford Wetlands, in southeast metropolitan Melbourne, and was listed in August 2001.

The Department of Sustainability and Environment is responsible for implementing the Convention on Wetlands in Victoria. The Department of Sustainability and Environment takes a lead role in developing and implementing policy and legislation, and generally promoting conservation and wise use of wetlands throughout Victoria. In addition, catchment management authorities are addressing poor management of wetlands on private land by implementing salinity plans, wetland management plans, and water allocation strategies.

Substantial areas of Victoria's Ramsar sites are situated in protected areas on public land and are managed either directly or indirectly by Parks Victoria.

White Mangroves, Western Port. Photographer:Bill Boyle

Strategic Management Framework

Parks Victoria, together with the Department of Sustainability and Environment and other lead agencies (including catchment management authorities, water authorities and local governments), has developed a management framework to ensure a coordinated statewide approach to the protection of their significant environmental values. This framework has been applied to all Victorian Ramsar sites (except the Edithvale-Seaford Wetlands Ramsar site that was listed after the framework's inception). This work was partly financed by a $153,000 contribution from the National Wetlands Program.

The framework - based on Parks Victoria's environmental management system and the Convention on Wetlands' risk assessment framework - includes an overarching Strategic Directions Statement and Strategic Management Plans for each individual Ramsar site. An inbuilt reporting framework provides a structured process for demonstrating that Victoria is meeting its primary obligation to maintain the ecological character of its Ramsar wetlands.

"The management plans are a significant step in improving the recognition and coordinating management of these Ramsar sites. They promote an integrated approach to management that involves a range of agencies and the community" said Minister Thwaites.

Western Port

To better care for Victoria's wetlands we also need a better understanding of what we have. The Strategic Directions Statement and Strategic Management Plans outline the environmental, cultural, economic and scientific values of the wetlands and the risks they face. These risks include:

altered water regimes;
increased salination;
pollution;
pest plants and animals;
unsustainable land uses;
inappropriate fire regimes; and
incompatible recreational activities.

The identification of the values and risks to the wetlands provides a sound basis for setting management objectives. The Strategic Directions Statement outlines the following objectives, which are also reflected in each of the Strategic Management Plans:

increase the scientific understanding of wetland ecosystems and their management requirements;
maintain and restore appropriate water regimes;
address adverse processes and activities;
manage within an integrated catchment management framework;
manage resource use sustainably;
protect and, where appropriate, enhance ecosystem processes, habitats and species;
encourage strong partnerships between relevant agencies;
promote community awareness and understanding of the wetlands and provide opportunities for community involvement in their care;
ensure recreational use is consistent with the protection of natural and cultural values; and
develop ongoing consistent programs to monitor ecological character.

The Strategic Directions Statement and Strategic Management Plans for each Ramsar site (with the exception of Edithvale-Seaford Wetlands) have been finalised and are available below.