WetlandUpdate February 2022

World Wetlands Day 2022

This year’s theme is ‘Wetlands Action for People and Nature’ with the message 'Value – Manage- Restore – Love - Wetlands'. A call to take action for wetlands is the focus of this years’ campaign. It's an appeal to invest financial, human and political capital to save the world’s wetlands from disappearing and to restore those we have degraded.

Information materials to support outreach activities for World Wetlands Day 2022 are now available to download from the Ramsar Convention website at https://www.worldwetlandsday.org/.

Information materials to download includes:

• a poster
• infographic
• campaign toolkit
• social media cards.
• a PowerPoint presentation

Also available are a Children's colouring poster, a T-shirt design and logos as well as InDesign files to facilitate translation into other languages.

Updated Feral Pig pages

The Feral Pigs page has been updated to include information on impacts to ecological values of wetlands from feral pigs, impacts to native wetland animals, impacts to water quality and the impacts to social values of wetlands. Information has also been added to the Feral pigs page in the Ecology section.

Updates to the Assessment Toolbox

Updates to a fish barrier prioritisation methodology (Landscape Scale/Coastal) to reflect a refinement of the methodology in a recent study in the Herbert and Murray catchments by Catchment Solutions[1]. A new entry was added, related to the updated methodology, Fish Barrier Prioritisation (Landscape Scale Coastal, no economic analysis) and updates made to Fish Barrier Prioritisation (Landscape Scale Coastal, with economic analysis) to reflect the differences in using an economic scoring of barrier remediation costs.

Updates

Updated layers on WetlandMaps and WetlandSummary

• Updated aquatic biopassage structure layer (new fishways)
• Updated local government areas layer
• Updated drainage basins layer
• Updated sewage monitoring points and sewage treatment facilities layers

Updated Wetland Projects Search Tool

Additional projects have been added to the wetland projects search tool including a number from Burnett Mary Regional Group for Natural Resource Management Ltd. (BMRG).

Additional links

• Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan 2021-25, is on the Great Barrier Reef contributing catchments summary page and the Programs, policy and legislation page.
• Reef Catchment's video explores the integrated management activities designed to improve the condition and function of freshwater systems in the Mackay, Whitsunday and Isaac region, and is on the Videos and interactive maps page.
• Back to Blue Plastics Managment Index is on the Reduced waste and alternative products page.
• Beyond the Block fact sheet series and case studies, is on the Treatment systems for agriculture page and Wetland management tools and guides page.
• This video by Terrain NRM, on farm drains and constructed wetlands as denitrifying systems, is on the Treatment systems for agriculture, Nitrogen processes and Videos and interactive maps pages.
• Queensland's plan to protect our Great Artesian Basin is on the Water Management, Sedimentary rocks (Great Artesian Basin), and Videos and interactive maps pages.
• Australian guidelines for the implementation of nature-based methods for coastal hazard risk reductionis on the Disaster management page and Wetland management tools and guides page.
• IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutionsis on the Disaster management page and Wetland management tools and guides page.
• The blue carbon method, Tidal restoration of blue carbon ecosystems method, has been added to the Changes in climate page and Wetland management tools and guides page. This method enables Australian carbon credit units (ACCUs) to be earned by projects that remove or modify tidal restriction mechanisms and allow tidal flow to be introduced to an area of land.
• The Wongaloo Wetlands Open Day video (by NQ Dry Tropics) is on the videos page and in WetlandSummary.
• A link to the Queensland Government's Public Register has been added to Programs, policy and legislation page.

WetlandUpdate

The WetlandUpdate is a regular bulletin sent to subscribers to provide you with the latest WetlandInfo resources and tools, as well as case studies, video information and new project fact sheets.

View previous WetlandUpdates

WetlandInfo feedback and improvements

Contact us via email for feedback, information or questions about wetlands.

WetlandInfo feature species

Mollusc community consolidated substrate

Photo by Maria Zann

The feature species for December is the Sydney Rock Oyster, Saccostrea glomerata. Saccostrea glomerata is a species of oyster endemic to Australia and New Zealand. They are usually found in the intertidal zone, growing on intertidal rocky shores including rock platforms, and can tolerate a range of salinities (halotolerant). They often form in mollusc communities where they help form shellfish reefs. Shellfish reefs provide, modify and maintain habitats for a number of other species, and provide a range of ecosystem services including food provision, fish and invertabrate habitat, water filtration, fish production and shoreline protection.

Saccostrea glomerata are broadcast spawners, where eggs and sperm are released into open water where fertilisation occurs. Within hours of fertilisation, the eggs develop into free-swimming planktonic larvae. The larvae develop retractable feet and transparent shell, while searching for a suitable site to attach to. Once attached, the shell darkens, and the larval foot is reabsorbed.

Oysters are filter feeders, filtering planktonic algae from the water. Birds, fish, stringrays, mud crabs and starfish all eat Saccostrea glomerata, including the Australian pied oystercatcher. Saccostrea glomerata is also commercially farmed in Australia.

Additional information

• Species profile
• Atlas of Living Australia.

This section is updated regularly, so stay tuned for more!

References

1. ^ Moore, M, Fries, J & Power, T (August 2021), Fish Barrier Prioritisation – Murray and Lower Herbert Rivers, Catchment Solutions.

Last updated: 28 January 2022