MT06 Protect Wetlands
The NSW wetlands management policy
As one of the component policies of the New South Wales State Rivers and Estuaries Policy, the Wetlands Management Policy provides guidance on wise use, best management practice and rehabilitation of wetlands. By adopting the policy, the State Government will give explicit consideration to the biophysical requirements of wetlands to ensure their sustainable management. Principles to be followed include formal recognition in water allocation and management plans of environmental water regimes for wetlands, encouragement of land uses that maintain wetland habitats and processes, discouragement of purpose built wetlands on the site of viable natural ones and the active rehabilitation of degraded wetlands and their habitats. Implementation of the policy will require application to Government agency's activities, coordination of the wetland work of Government agencies, provision of support to the community and preparation of an annual Wetland Action Plan (A).
Australian wetland plants and wetlands in the landscape: Conservation of diversity and future management
The plant communities that are a feature of Australian shallow wetlands reflect the dynamics of their flooding and drying patterns. Anthropogenic changes to wetlands at individual wetland, catchment and landscape scales can change availability of plant habitats and hence the diversity of wetland plants. Policies for conservation of wetlands and the need for integrating policy, management and science in their implementation are addressed as a way forward for conservation. The natural dynamics of wetland plants and wetlands in the landscape are discussed and their resilience considered as an indicator of response to change. Plant community responses to induced change from alteration of water quantity and delivery (timing, frequency, duration and variability of flooding and drying), water quality, invasions and grazing are demonstrated. The responses of wetland plants, communities and wetlands to different flooding and drying patterns from field observation, experimental testing in glasshouse, outdoor tank trials, field scale experimental wetlands and field manipulations are presented to show how research can form the basis of extrapolation and generalization which can be used for prediction of change. The maintenance of mosaics of wetlands is suggested as a way of conserving biodiversity and enhancing resilience of wetlands in the landscape. The need for collaboration between researchers and conservators to establish principles of precautionary management is proposed.
Managing nutrients in floodplain wetlands and shallow lakes
This technical guideline describes a research project conducted in Victoria Park Lake, an ornamental lake near Shepparton VIC, which investigated whether macrophyte dominance could be switched to algal dominance by nutrient enrichment or plant harvesting. The findings generated a number of new discoveries about the responses of macrophytes and algae to nutrient enrichment and the dynamics of nutrients added to shallow lakes and wetlands. The following general management advice is based on the project and related research. Submerged aquatic macrophytes are a desirable component of shallow lakes and wetlands and management activities should ensure their continued presence. Harvesting submerged macrophytes when nutrient levels are high increases the likelihood of algal blooms and may prevent the re-establishment of submerged aquatic plants. Harvesting submerged macrophytes may also result in the establishment of other aquatic plant species not present earlier which could prove problematic. Dense mats of floating plants of algal scum on the water surface can cause de-oxygenation of the water column and the catastrophic loss of submerged macrophytes. When constructing artificial wetlands managers need to be aware of the limitations of using wetlands to treat nutrient-enriched waters because the buffering capacity of sediments will become saturated. It is also cautioned that algal monitoring programs that focus on blue-green algal blooms could miss significant algal blooms caused by other phytoplankton which can cause a decrease in water quality (A).