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| Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia | |
|---|---|
| Name | Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia |
| Location | Australia |
| Established | 1976 |
| Managing authority | Environment Australia |
Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia is a national inventory that identifies wetlands of high conservation value across Australia, integrating scientific assessment, policy frameworks, and site-level management. The Directory links Australian wetland knowledge with international instruments such as the Ramsar Convention and coordinates with agencies including the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and state environment departments. It supports biodiversity priorities articulated by bodies like the Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, the Australian Heritage Council and conservation NGOs such as the WWF-Australia and BirdLife Australia.
The Directory was developed to catalog wetlands of national significance, aiding planners in the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 context, aligning with the Ramsar Convention obligations and supporting listings on registers like the National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heritage List. It provides baseline information used by researchers at institutions including the Australian National University, the University of Queensland, the University of Tasmania, and agencies such as the Bureau of Meteorology and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. The Directory informs international reporting to forums such as the United Nations Environment Programme and collaborates with regional programs like the East Asian–Australasian Flyway Partnership and the Pacific Islands Forum.
Sites are assessed using biophysical and socio-ecological criteria developed with experts from the Australian Academy of Science, the CSIRO Land and Water division, and state scientific committees such as those in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, Northern Territory, and the Australian Capital Territory. Criteria incorporate elements from the Ramsar Convention criteria, threatened-species assessments under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and habitat values recognized in conservation planning tools used by Parks Australia and state park services like the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. Nominations may be submitted by local councils, indigenous corporations such as the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance, or NGOs including Conservation Volunteers Australia and follow review by expert panels and the Australian Heritage Commission.
The Directory covers wetlands across regions from the Kimberley and the Pilbara coasts to the Murray–Darling Basin floodplains, the Gulf of Carpentaria, the Top End, and the temperate estuaries of Bass Strait and the Tasman Sea. Major wetland types cataloged include mangrove systems along the Great Barrier Reef coast, peatlands in Tasmania, ephemeral wetlands of the Simpson Desert, and coastal lagoons of the Gippsland Lakes. Regional summaries draw on data from agencies such as the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the Murray–Darling Basin Authority, and research centres like the Tropical Savannas CRC and the Australian Rivers Institute.
The Directory cross-references nationally and internationally important sites including Kakadu National Park, Koolpin Creek, the Macquarie Marshes, the Koolmatrie, the Coongie Lakes, Lake Eyre, the Gulf of Carpentaria, Roebuck Bay, the Roebuck Plains, the Port Phillip Bay (Western Shoreline) and Bellarine Peninsula, Moreton Bay, the Hunter Estuary Wetlands, Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert, the Gwydir Wetlands, the Eighty Mile Beach, and the Westernport Bay. Many of these overlap with protected areas like Kakadu National Park, Kakadu, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park adjacency zones, and marine parks managed by the Australian Marine Parks network. Research and conservation partnerships often include universities such as the University of Melbourne and organizations like Greening Australia and the Australian Wetlands and Rivers Centre.
Management actions advised by the Directory coordinate invasive-species control targeting taxa listed by the IUCN and regional pest programs such as those run by the Invasive Species Council and state biosecurity agencies. Threats documented include altered hydrology from infrastructure projects like the Snowy Mountains Scheme and irrigation works in the Murray–Darling Basin Authority domain, pollution linked to mining approvals overseen by the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, sea-level rise driven by findings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and land-use change influenced by regional planning authorities including the Greater Sydney Commission and local councils. Conservation responses involve catchment-scale initiatives coordinated with bodies such as the National Landcare Program and indigenous ranger programs supported by the Indigenous Desert Alliance.
The Directory operates within a framework of instruments and institutions including the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, bilateral agreements under the Ramsar Convention, and state legislation such as the Water Act 2007 (Cth) interactions. Management relies on agencies such as Parks Australia, state environment departments (for example, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (Victoria)), and regional bodies including the Murray–Darling Basin Authority. International collaboration engages organizations like the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention, and networks such as the East Asian–Australasian Flyway Partnership.
Ongoing research and monitoring linked to the Directory are undertaken by institutions including the CSIRO, the Australian Antarctic Division for southern wetland analogues, and universities such as the University of Western Australia, Deakin University, and the Griffith University. Public engagement programs involve citizen science initiatives run by groups like BirdLife Australia, educational outreach by the Australian Museum, and volunteer monitoring coordinated with Landcare Australia and local indigenous knowledge holders represented through organizations such as the Northern Land Council and the Yorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation. These partnerships support adaptive management guided by frameworks developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and reporting to forums such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Category:Wetlands of Australia