RAMSAR

Most of us would know that the entire Great Sandy Straits region including its coastline, estuaries and river systems is a listed RAMSAR site.

But what is RAMSAR and why is it important?

The short answer is that it is an international treaty for “the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources”. Now in its 40th year, the RAMSAR convention was initially signed by 18 countries in 1971 and now protects significant wetlands sites all around the world.

To qualify for RAMSAR listing the treaty states that “Wetlands should be selected for the List on account of their international significance in terms of ecology, botany, zoology, limnology or hydrology” and indicates that “in the first instance, wetlands of international importance to waterfowl at any season should be included”.

The Great Sandy Straits RAMSAR wetlands site qualifies for listing on 9 out of 13 key factors and was listed in 1999.

How were the wetlands of the Great Sandy Straits formed?

Over many hundreds of thousands of years the predominant south east trade winds have built up sand blows to form what is now Fraser Island. The offshore sand mass blocked the free flow of the Mary River, and the silts it carried, to the sea to eventually form the sand passage estuary we now call the Great Sandy Straits and Tin Can Inlet.

A major feature of this passage estuary system is the extensive wetlands that form part of this unique environment. From mangrove forests to seagrasses, saltmarshes and saltflats, to mudflats and patterned fens there are a large number of ecological features that are in near pristine condition and qualify the site for RAMSAR status. Significant fauna have made their home in the rich habitat of the Great Sandy Straits and Tin Can Inlet.

So what does RAMSAR mean to us?

These internationally important wetlands of the Great Sandy Straits and Tin Can Inlet support a significant number of the world population of many waterbird species, fish nurseries, reptiles, crustaceans, corals, turtles, dolphins, dugong, rays and many others – many of these species are threatened or endangered.

Of significant importance to us is that without these wetlands and their mangrove forests and seagrass beds there would be no fish, no food for wader birds that migrate long distances to breed and feed, no turtles and dugong and no dolphins (no fish). In fact these wetlands sustain our entire local ecosystem and, to a large degree, our local economy which depends heavily on recreational and professional fishing as well as tourism from visitors attracted to our region for its environmental values and scenery.

We are fortunate to have this significant site in our region listed under the RAMSAR convention – not only does Australia’s treaty obligations assist in protecting these unique wetlands, but they are also afforded additional protection under the Commonwealth EPBC Act due to their RAMSAR listed status.

We really do live in a unique environment.