Wetland Management
Managing The Broadwater (Clarence River, NSW)
Contributor: Adrienne Farago
NSW Department of Environment and Conservation
adrienne.farago@environment.nsw.gov.au
Many people would not immediately think of a large shallow estuarine lake that supports over a dozen commercial fishers as a wetland. However The Broadwater, a 2,800 ha off stream tidal waterbody averaging less than 1m in depth, is the largest estuarine wetland in the Clarence River estuary.
In 2003, a NSW Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) desktop review determined that this submerged Crown land may well meet the criteria for listing as a wetland under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance. There are currently 64 Ramsar listed wetlands in Australia. The wetlands are listed because they are representative, rare or unique wetland types, or they are considered important for preserving biological diversity.
Before any work was done on the wetlands, DEC was concerned to ensure two things:
- that any possible nomination was considered with proper public consultation, and
- that any potential management conflicts were considered and addressed prior to any possible nomination.
A Working Wetland
The management of a significant wetland does not always require that fishing, grazing or other primary industries on the wetland be significantly altered. Often working wetlands have been maintained to high conservation levels. To recognise this, draw in a larger range of stakeholders, develop a management plan and consider Ramsar nomination of the wetland, DEC formed a working group.
Forming a working group
DEC formed a working group of stakeholders, comprising local and state government agencies, recreational and commercial fishers, local conservation groups, the local Aboriginal Land Council and once a representative group was formed, local landholders. The goal of the Broadwater Wetland Working Group (BWWG) was to “assess community support for nominating The Broadwater Wetland to the Ramsar Convention and, if agreed, undertake the nomination of The Broadwater to the Ramsar Convention”. The BWWG has had an independent chair, Julian Prior from the University of New England (UNE).
Plan of Management
The main tool used by the BWWG has been a Plan of Management (PoM) for The Broadwater. Most of the PoM has been written by two honours students from UNE (Kate McPherson and Rosanna Chell) under Julian’s supervision. This document aimed to identify any potential management conflicts and facilitate consultation. As a ‘stand alone’ document, the PoM is useful in directing and coordinating management regardless of whether a Ramsar nomination succeeds.
Some landholders in the catchment have been concerned about the possible implications of a Ramsar nomination, and the BWWG therefore decided to proceed with the PoM first, prior to consulting more broadly on a possible Ramsar nomination.
The PoM is now complete and has been approved by the BWWG.
The PoM addresses ecological, socio-economic and cultural values; and management issues associated with both water quality and the aquatic ecosystem, and the adjacent terrestrial vegetation. It expresses a number of management objectives, and management actions covering ecological character and values (in accordance with the group’s understanding of the Ramsar requirements); monitoring; and management partnerships.
Ecological Character of the Wetland
The ‘ecological character’ of The Broadwater – the term used by the Ramsar Convention to describe the nature of wetlands – is described as:
- supporting a high diversity of riparian and aquatic habitats;
- being a wetland type representative of both estuarine wetlands and wetlands of the NSW North Coast bioregion;
- being a refuge for fauna during adverse conditions; and
- being important habitat for animals at important or vulnerable stages of their lifecycle.
The wetland comprises all stages of wetland vegetation succession from the aquatic ecosystem to the adjacent terrestrial vegetation. It contains sub-tidal aquatic beds (seagrasses, marine meadows such as water couch and open water systems); estuarine waters; inter-tidal mud, sand and salt flats; inter-tidal forested wetlands (mangrove swamps); freshwater lagoons and marshes within the coastal zone (swamp forests – spike and pin rush swamps and water couch meadows); and non-tidal freshwater forested wetlands.
The Broadwater provides breeding and nursery grounds for a number of birds (including birds listed under both the Japan-Australia and China-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (JAMBA and CAMBA); fish (including a wide range of highly valued commercial and recreational species); and invertebrates. The Broadwater is an important location for the Aboriginal community, and has European cultural values closely linked with the history of agricultural settlement and the character of the agricultural landscape.
The Broadwater is in relatively good condition. However, the PoM process identified potential threats such as sedimentation, eutrophication, acid sulfate soils, physical disturbance (eg of seagrass), pollution (both diffuse and point source, for example from drains and sewerage outlets), unsustainable levels of fishing or grazing, and from pest plants and animals.
Management Recommendations
The BWWG made several management recommendations, many focussing on survey, monitoring, research and coordination; and on supporting sustainable ‘best practice’ in the surrounding industries.
The Department of Lands is considering forming a reserve trust, under the NSW Crown Lands Act 1989, to manage the Crown reserve. Such a trust would be responsible for implementing the PoM, and could also be responsible for further investigation and consultation on nominating The Broadwater to the Ramsar Convention.
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