Coastal 20 Wetlands Project
WetlandCare Australia is celebrating its 20th year of achievements in conjunction with starting a pivotal initiative; their Coastal 20 Wetlands Project. This $2.5 million project has been funded under the Australian Government’s Caring for Country program. The Coastal 20 Wetland Project will see WetlandCare Australia work in partnership with community, government and industry bodies to undertake the restoration of 20 iconic coastal wetlands. These 20 coastal wetlands are biodiversity hotspots and have regional and international significance. They face significant and increasing human and environmental pressures threatening their environmental, cultural, social and economic values.
LATEST COASTAL 20 NEWS:
World Wetlands Day Events (Feb 2012)
Event: Lake Coombabah World Fisheries Day (11 November 2011)
Update 1: Decision Time for Coastal 20 (6 October 2011)
Media Release: Janelle Saffin launches Coastal 20 (August 2011)
Coastal 20 wetland site located at Sandy Creek (Richmond River) (Simone Haigh, WetlandCare Australia 2011)
Coastal 20 wetland site located at Gumma Gumma.
What makes the project so unique and important is that restoration will cover a distance of 1000km, from Gladstone in southern Queensland right down to Kempsey on the northern NSW coastline. Based on a briefing paper by the Australia Conservation Foundation which puts a value on the economic benefits of Australian wetlands, WetlandCare Australia has estimated that over a 10 year period, an economic return of $330 million can be realized from rehabilitating these coastal wetlands which contain many Endangered Ecological Communities. Endangered Ecological Communities are plant communities that are threatened with extinction or significant loss.
Coastal 20 wetland site North Creek is a mangrove- lined tributary with salt marsh, seagrass, swamp oak, mangrove and paperbark wetlands.
Coastal 20 wetland site Belongil swamp contains Endangered Ecological Communities including saltmarsh, freshwater wetlands on coastal floodplains, littoral rainforest, lowland rainforest on floodplain, and swamp sclerophyll forest.
The Coastal 20 Wetlands Project is one of the first of its kind in Australia and will run over 3 years. It is envisaged that the project will become a model for wetland restoration, and be replicated across Australia. The collective knowledge of stakeholders, government and industry partners will be harnessed to ensure the most critical threats at each site are addressed. The strategic delivery of sustainable on-ground actions will then be employed by WetlandCare Australia scientists, bush regenerators, indigenous partners and local communities.
WetlandCare Australia will work with local communities to improve the health of essential ecosystems which provide clean water, flood mitigation, agriculture, tourism and recreation. The focus will be on improving community awareness of wetlands and their values as well as actively engaging coastal communities. Communities will benefit from learning skills and working together with WetlandCare Australia to rehabilitate and protect these important wetland areas.
Local communities working together with WetlandCare Australia to restore and promote healthy wetlands.
WetlandCare Australia will work to strengthen the conservation outcome for some of Australia’s most threatened and iconic species, by restoring critical habitat. Iconic species include the Dugong which is listed under the World Conservation Unions Red List as being vulnerable to extinction. Australia is its largest, and globally most important, refuge area. Other species include the Beach Stone Curlew which is critically endangered in NSW and listed as vulnerable in QLD, and the Mitchells Rainforest Snail which is listed as critically endangered, Australia wide.
Threatened fauna species such as the Beach Stone Curlew, Mitchell Rainforest Snail and Dugong are known to occur at some of the Coastal 20 wetland sites throughout QLD and NSW.
WetlandCare Australia will also work to strengthen the conservation outcomes for migrating birds listed under several International Agreements, such as the Japan-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (JAMBA) and the China-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (CAMBA) and also recently with the Republic of Korea-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (ROKAMBA). These treaties play an important role in international efforts to conserve migratory birds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway.
The Little Tern is listed under international migratory bird agreements and is listed as endangered in Australia.
Through the Coastal 20 Wetland Project we are working to prevent further extinctions of Australian flora and fauna by rehabilitating key degraded wetland areas. You can help us protect some of our most endangered species. If you are a business, join with us as a Community Environment Partner. Individuals can also become involved by making a donation and following our restoration works on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/wetlandcare. To find out more contact WetlandCare Australia’s Regional Coordinator Adam Gosling, in Ballina on (02) 6681 6169 oremail adamgosling@wetlandcare.com.au.
All photographs taken by Adam Gosling, WetlandCare Australia with the exception of; The Mitchells Rainforest Snail photograph taken by Mark. V. Robinson; Belongil Creek photographs taken by Cassie Price; Local community photograph taken by Kate Heyward.