Towra Point wins Grey Globe Award at the 11th Ramsar Conference of Parties in Bucharest, Romania
Saturday 7th July 2012
Towra Point Nature Reserve Ramsar Site, near Sydney, Australia, has been presented with a Grey Globe Award at the 11th Ramsar Conference of Contracting parties in Bucharest, Romania today.
A Grey Globe Award is nothing to be proud of! It is awarded by the World Wetlands Network to Ramsar wetlands to highlight their decline in ecological values. The award is a call to action to protect Ramsar wetlands from threats and neglect.
Towra Point Nature Reserve Ramsar site covers 386.5 hectares of wetlands on the southern shore of Botany Bay, Sydney, Australia. It was listed as a Ramsar wetland of international significance in 1984.
The site meets four Ramsar criteria. It is home to 3 Threatened Species, contains an important complex of salt marsh, mangroves and sea meadows, provides nursery habitat for approximately 60 species of fish including 25 species of commercial importance, and supports up to 34 species of migratory shorebirds protected by international agreements with Korea, Japan and China.
Threats include erosion of the shoreline, pollution, invasive weeds and mangrove encroachment into salt marsh.
According to Phil Straw, Vice Chair of the Australasian Wader Study Group, “the award is a call to action for all levels of government, industry and community groups to protect the site. Only then can the outstanding ecological values of this internationally significant wetland on Sydney’s doorstep be preserved.”
Louise Duff, Secretary of the Australian Wetlands Alliance is representing Australian Non-Government Organisations at the 11th Ramsar Conference of Contracting Parties in Bucharest and will receive the Award on behalf of Australian NGOs.
The briefing notes, which have more detailed information on the wetlands, their significance and the threats to them can be downloaded here.
To view a short film about the Towra Point wetlands you can click here
More information:
Louise Duff, Secretariat, Australian Wetlands Alliance
M. 0432 688775
E. louiseduff@wetlandcare.com.au
Phil Straw, Vice Chairman, Australasian Wader Study Group
M. 0411 249075
E. philip.straw@awsg.org.au
Below: Bar-tailed Godwits, one of the migratory bird species that still find habitat at Towra Point.
