Department of Environment and Conservation

WA's Ramsar sites

Details

Last Updated on Tuesday, 23 April 2013 14:48

Of the 64 listed Ramsar wetlands in Australia, 12 sites occur in Western Australia. The benefits of nominating wetlands for inclusion on the list include increased recognition of WA's most important wetlands, and increased management attention to these wetlands by relevant authorities and community groups.

The Department of Environment and Conservation has the lead role in recommending suitable wetlands in Western Australia to the State government for nomination for inclusion on the List of Wetlands of International Importance. This is a detailed process that involves consultation with key stakeholders and the preparation of nomination documents containing details of the values and other features of each wetland including site maps.

Lake Gore Ramsar Site, photo taken by Gareth Watkins	Peel-Yalgorup, photo taken by Kim Wilson

The State Government of Western Australia decides which WA wetlands are nominated to the Commonwealth government and the Ramsar Bureau for inclusion on the List of Wetlands of International Importance.

The 12 Ramsar wetlands in Western Australia

Site	Area (ha)	Further info	Map (pdf)	Ecological Character Description (ECD)	Management Plan (MP)
Ord River Floodplain	141,453			ECD Ord River Floodplain (6.3 MB)
Lakes Argyle and Kununurra	117,495			ECD Lakes Argyle and Kununurra (4.23 MB)
Roebuck Bay	34,119			ECD Roebuck Bay (4.7 MB)
Eighty-Mile Beach	175,487			ECD Eighty-mile Beach (3.8 MB)
Forrestdale and Thomson Lakes	784			ECD Forrestdale and Thomsons Lakes (6.1 MB)	Forrestdale Lake Nature Reserve MP 2005 Thomsons Lake Nature Reserve MP 2005
Peel-Yalgorup System	26,677			ECD Peel-Yalgorup (5.74 MB)	Lake McLarty Nature Reserve MP 2008
Lake Toolibin	493
Vasse-Wonnerup System	1,115
Lake Warden System	1,999			ECD Lake Warden System (4.31 MB)	Esperance Lakes Nature Reserve MP 1999-2009
Becher Point Wetlands	677
Lake Gore	4,017			ECD Lake Gore (2.74 MB)
Muir-Byenup System	10,631			ECD Muir-Byenup System (3.5 MB)

The most recent Western Australian nominations to the List of Wetlands of International Importance were made in 2000, when the State Government nominated the Becher Point Wetlands, Lake Gore and the Muir-Byenup System. At the same time it also nominated twelve extensions to four existing Ramsar sites: the Ord River Floodplain, Peel-Yalgorup System, Toolibin Lake and Vasse-Wonnerup System. These sites and extensions were added to the list in 2001.

Eight new sites are currently being investigated for nomination in WA and three sites are also being examined for possible extension in the future.