Wetland Management
Wetlands to be Prioritised in Sydney
Source: Phillip Birtles, Sydney Metropolitan CMA
Date: May 2008
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.
Considerations for a range of environmental values and threats for each wetland are made before ranking wetlands for environmental rehabilitation priority. For example, wetlands with community groups actively involved in their management, scored higher than those that did not.
“The technique reviews existing information in Plans of Management or similar documents to work out where rehabilitation works would get the best long-term results” said Phill Birtles, Regional Facilitator at the SMCMA. “We hope to use this technique in the future to ensure our efforts are focussed towards the wetlands and outcomes that are sustainable.”
This “desktop” approach also makes it easy to update as further information becomes available. Wetland managers are being encouraged to download a copy to discover if they currently have enough information available to review their wetland. A full copy of the report “A Wetland Prioritisation Technique for the SMCMA Area” can be downloaded on the SMCMA website (http://www.sydney.cma.nsw.gov.au).
To read the report, go to: http://www.sydney.cma.nsw.gov.au/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=24&func=fileinfo&id=235
