WetlandCare Australia Sponsors

 

Business Partners

Wetland Stuff for Schools

Other wetland values

Wetlands also provide a range of direct economic, social and cultural values.

Wetlands are an integral part of many of our economic enterprises, and many form the basis of primary industries. For example:

• Agriculture - irrigated agriculture supplied by the rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin contributes $7.2 billion annually to gross agricultural output.
  
  Other benefits wetlands provide to agriculture are:
  
  
  • the provision of water for livestock;
  • following a wet season some arid-zone wetlands are cropped; and
  • waterbirds that provide a crop pest-control service to farmers.
  
  
• Aquaculture - allowing landowners to diversify their activities. Products from Australia's aquaculture industry have become an important part of our export market.
  
• Commercial fishing - coastal wetlands are invaluable to the fishing industry as nurseries for the young of many commercially important fish species.
  
• Timber production - according to the NSW Wetlands Management Policy, the river red gum forest of the River Murray Floodplain provides timber resources worth about $26 million annually to the regional economy.