Indicator: IW-27 Extent of significant wetlands (incl. Ramsar)

Data

Number and area of Ramsar sites in each Australian jurisdiction
	No. of sites	Area (ha)
Australian Capital Territory	1	343
Commonwealth	4	1 376 062
New South Wales	9	74 382
Northern Territory	1	220 700
Queensland	5	632 374
South Australia	4	2 154 300
Tasmania	10	26 207
Victoria	10	306 844
Western Australia	12	517 970
Total	56	5 309 182

Source: Department of the Environment and Heritage 2001, A Directory of Important wetlands in Australia, Third Edition, viewed 10 Nov 2005, http://www.deh.gov.au/water/
wetlands/database/directory/index.html

Number of nationally important wetlands and approximate area in each jurisdiction
	No. of Sites (C'wealth owned or managed)	Area (ha)	Number of wetlands with threatened water regimes*
Australian Capital Territory	13 (0)	1 257	4
New South Wales	178 (6)	2 334 734	38
Northern Territory	33 (4)	4 033 230	7
Queensland	181 (8)	42 875 159	42
South Australia	69 (1)	4 223 988	19
Tasmania	89 (0)	51 514	13
Victoria	159 (4)	557 888	57
Western Australia	120 (8)	2 583 325	51
External Territories	9 (9)	1 168 427
Total	851 (40)	57 829 522

* Source: Davis, J, Froend, R, Hamilton, D, Horwitz, P, McComb, A, Oldham, C and Thomas, D 2001, Environmental water requirements to maintain wetland of national and International importance, Environment Australia, viewed 14 Dec 2005, http://www.deh.gov.au/water/rivers/nrhp/wetlands/index.html.

Threats to wetlands include: change in drainage due to peat moss extraction, walkers, cattle and sheep trampling, channels dug for sheep watering holes, drainage, irrigation, sedimentation, water diversion, river regulation, levees, dams sand weirs, water storage, mining, saltwater intrusion, groundwater extraction, prolonged inundation (tree deaths), potentially changed flooding regimes due to clearing for horticulture/mixed farming, siltation through overgrazing, aquifer draw down caused by water harvesting from the Great Artesian Basin, road and drain construction, tourist and recreational development, altered hydrology to prevent tidal intrusion, road crossing, urban expansion, discharge from sewerage treatment plant and disposal of saline groundwater.

Ninety percent of floodplain wetlands in the Murray-Darling Basin, 50% of coastal wetlands in New South Wales and 75% of wetlands on the Swan Coastal Plain in south-west Western Australia have been lost due to altered flow regimes.

Source: Arthington, AH 2002, 'Environmental flows: ecological importance, methods and lessons from Australia', Mekong Dialogue Workshop, "International transfer of river basin development experience: Australia and the Mekong region", vol. 2 September 2002, p. 8.

Source: Arthington,Angela, H 2002, Enviromental flows:ecological importance, methods and lessons from Australia, Conference-International transfer of river basin develop experience: Australia and the Mecong region, viewed 10 Nov 2005, http://www.mekong.es.usyd.edu.au/
events/past/Conference2002/angela_arthington.pdf.

Current and potential threats to wetland water regimes mapped according to IBRA regions

Source: Davis, J, Froend, R, Hamilton, D, Horwitz, P, McComb, A, Oldham, C and Thomas, D 2001, Environmental water requirements to maintain wetlands of National and International importance, Environmental Flows Initiative Technical Report No. 1, Environment Australia, Canberra, viewed 11 Oct 2005, http://www.deh.gov.au/water/rivers/nrhp/wetlands/index.html.

What the data mean

Ramsar sites comprise about 5 million hectares in Australia and 57 million hectares of wetlands are afforded a degree of protection through listing as nationally important wetlands. However about 230 nationally important wetlands are under pressure from one or more sources.

Issues for which this is an indicator and why

Inland Waters - Habitat scale influences - Wetlands

Although extent of wetlands is to some extent seasonal, long term trends in extent of wetlands is a surrogate indicator for condition of wetlands.