WetlandLink Newsletter - Current Issue

As part of major port expansion works at Port Botany in New South Wales, Sydney Ports Corporation is spending approximately $8 million to rehabilitate and expand Penrhyn Estuary in efforts to reverse the declining quality of the estuarine habitat for migratory shorebirds, seagrass and saltmarsh and to address the impacts of the port expansion on the function of the Estuary.

Until recently, both areas were unprotected Crown land and were not under management. The areas have now been included in the Ballina Regional Crown Reserve and will be preserved for their high conservation values. These conservation values include a number of listed Endangered Ecological Communities and threatened flora and fauna species. WetlandCare Australia will work in partnership with the Grafton office of the Department of Lands to manage the wetlands over the next two years.

A method for rapidly and simply assessing the health of estuarine wetland ecosystems that require management, conservation and/or rehabilitation has been developed. Called the Estuarine Wetland Health Assessment Project, it is included in the Wetland Assessment Techniques Manual for Australian Wetlands. This manual also includes assessments for other types of wetlands including Freshwater ecosystems.

The NSW Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Verity Firth, launched the Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment Action Plan on 5 May 2008, a guide to protecting and improving the region’s natural resources over the next 10 years.

The Sydney Metropolitan Catchment Management Authority (SMCMA) has released a process for prioritising environmental work in Sydney’s wetlands on their website. The prioritisation technique was developed for the CMA by Wetland Care Australia. The project reviewed 8 other assessment methods to ensure a high standard of assessment yet remain relevant to the unique environmental pressures of Sydney.

WetlandCare Australia will shortly finalise their ‘Wetland Rehabilitation Guidelines for Great Barrier Reef Catchments’. This product was developed with funding through the Queensland Wetlands Programme, a joint initiative of the Australian and Queensland Governments.

The Guideline is an 80+ page document containing a wealth of information about how to manage and rehabilitate wetlands in coastal Queensland. To accompany the Guidelines a series of Case Studies and Fact Sheets have also been produced.

Conservation and management of wetlands on private and government owned lands is assisted by NGOs. A short description and contact details are supplied for; Australian Wetlands Alliance, Conservation Volunteers Australia, the Hunter Wetlands Centre, Wetlands International, Wetland Care Australia, and, World Wide Fund for Nature Australia.

These organisations provide a contact point for people wanting to be involved in the conservation of wetlands in Australia.

The Long-nosed Potoroo can occasionally be seen foraging after dark. Its presence can sometimes be detected from the cone shaped diggings it leaves in sandy soil where it unearths its diet of roots and grubs. The Long-nosed Potoroo inhabits coastal heaths and dry and wet sclerophyll forests. If you have seen a Long-nosed Potoroo, that area is a habitat for a vulnerable threatened species.

Keeping in touch with NRM news in the remote north of Australia is easier than you think with three great e-news options: The Basin Bullet serving the Desert Channels in QLD, Gulf Links serving the Southern Gulf of QLD and The Fitzroy Basin Association e-news.

AABR NSW is an incorporated association having members who are ecological restoration professionals, volunteers and people generally interested in restoration of natural areas.

An old polluted drain flows between the Sydney suburbs of Annandale and Lilyfield. The native bush was chopped down over a hundred years ago, swamps filled in and Whites Creek was turned into a concrete stormwater drain, forming a hostile environment for frogs and fish.

Then, Friends of the Earth had a vision to reduce pollution in Sydney Harbour by mimicking nature and using natural means.