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Social and cultural values of wetlands

Some wetlands have special significance for Aboriginal people. Numerous wetlands within the Barwon-Darling catchment are significant sites, having been central to the traditional lifestyles and cultural beliefs of the indigenous people of northwestern NSW. Sites along the river are significant as sources of food, places of ceremony and as part of the dreaming and natural beliefs of the people. Aboriginal people continue to use the river as a place for meeting, teaching and recreation and have expressed a strong interest in being involved in water management.

Wetlands also have an important place in European settler history and culture. For example, the wetlands of the Cooper Creek are famous as the place where the explorers Burke and Wills died.

The history of settlement and land use is linked to wetlands. Wetlands provided early settlers with food and water for drinking, livestock and crops. The importance of water to these early settlers is perhaps a reason why wetlands feature so often in Australian stories and songs. The phrase "… camped by a billabong" is central to one of our best known and loved folk songs.