WETLANDS MANAGEMENT

WWF-Australia has taken up the conservation of wetlands as a priority in 1996. Despite the fact that Australia is the world's driest inhabited continent, and that water is a treasured commodity, reckless use and complete disregard for wetlands have so far marked public attitude. Blue-green algae blooms, increasing salinity, the high number of endangered fish species, and the drying out of swamps as a result of extraction of water for irrigation are all warnings of the pressures these wetlands are under. Moreover, any destruction of the fragile wetlands ecosystem has a major bearing on outback wildlife.

With an international focus on Australia's wetlands in 1996, WWF has been urging the government to bring more wetlands under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, commonly known as the Ramsar Convention. Of the 520 wetlands recognised as nationally important in Australia, only 42 are at present covered by Ramsar, and two-thirds of these are threatened by poor management or proposed development. WWF-Australia has also taken up protection of threatened ecological communities, such native grasslands, woodlands, paperbark swamps and others as a priority in 1996.

The paperbark swamps of north-east Queensland, for example, are one of the most rich yet threatened ecosystems of the Wet Tropics region. These woodlands are the home of the recently re-discovered, and endangered Mahogany Glider; six rare and threatened orchid species, six threatened butterfly species and the endangered Ant-Plant. As a result of WWF's efforts, theCommonwealth and Queensland Governments have agreed to allocate $16 million to acquire and conserve about 38,000 hectares of the region. Hence most of the Mahogany Glider habitat will be purchased and protected.

WWF works on some of Australia's most neglected ecosystems, such as the magnificent redgum forest floodplains of south-eastern Australia. This area has been extensively cleared for agriculture and flooded by dams. In fact, over 35 per cent of the River Murray's seasonally inundated wetlands have been destroyed by reservoirs. WWF-Australia is urging the Victorian, New South Wales and Commonwealth Governments to protect many of these wetlands under the Ramsar Convention.

Another coastal dweller, the Orange-bellied Parrot was the subject of WWF-Australia's first conservation project. Only 200 pairs remain and most of the birds migrate each year to the heavily developed coastal region of southern Australia. Work on the project has included a captive breeding programme, ecological research, and assistance in the development of a recovery plan. One of its main non-breeding havens, Point Wilson has been covered under three international treaties: Ramsar and two bilateral agreements.

<<----BACK

Copyright 1996, The World Wide Fund For Nature