Fivebough and Tuckerbil Wetlands

Last updated

Designations
Official nameFivebough and Tuckerbil Swamps
Designated21 October 2002
Reference no.1224 [1]
Panorama from Wetlands Walk at Fivebough Wetlands, which is still underwater after the wet Winter and Spring in 2016 Panorama from Wetlands Walk at Fivebough Wetlands, which is still underwater after the wet 2016 Winter and Spring and further rain in December.jpg
Panorama from Wetlands Walk at Fivebough Wetlands, which is still underwater after the wet Winter and Spring in 2016

Fivebough and Tuckerbil Wetlands are two wetland sites within the Riverina and Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA), near Leeton in New South Wales, Australia. Both Fivebough and Tuckerbil sites form Crown reserve number 1030008 managed by NSW Department of Industry, for ecological conservation and public recreation. The reserve was recognised as being a Wetland of International Importance through designation under the Ramsar Convention on 21 October 2002 as Ramsar Site 1224 [2]

Contents

Description

Fivebough Wetlands ( 34°31′50″S146°25′55″E / 34.53056°S 146.43194°E / -34.53056; 146.43194 ) lies 4 km north-east of Leeton. It has an area of 400 ha, is a seasonal, shallow, fresh to brackish wetland in its east and north-west, with permanent water in the south-west of its basin. [3]

Tuckerbil Wetlands ( 34°29′05″S146°20′55″E / 34.48472°S 146.34861°E / -34.48472; 146.34861 ) lies 10 km north-west of Leeton and is a 289 ha seasonal, shallow, brackish to saline wetland. [3]

History

Fivebough and Tuckerbil Wetlands were recognised for their environmental values as early as 1920 when ornithologist Samuel Albert White reported to the MIA Commissioner that Fivebough Swamp should be proclaimed a sanctuary, and Tuckerbil Swamp a reserve. Keith Collingwood McKeown (1892-1952) entomologist, naturalist, and author, during his time in Leeton (1915-1921) recorded the first bird observations (acknowledged in S. A. White's reports) in Leeton and the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, including Fivebough and Tuckerbil Wetlands. McKeown later became assistant curator entomology (1929-1952) at the Australian Museum. In the late 1970s Fivebough Swamp, along with Tuckerbil swamp during the 1990s, became known for their birdwatching qualities. During 1994-1997 both Fivebough and Tuckerbil Wetlands using set methodology were surveyed as part of the RAOU (Birds Australia) Murray-Darling Basin Waterbird Project. The results from the project identifying the wetlands as qualifying under five of the nine Ramsar Convention criteria as Wetlands of International Importance, based on waterbird species diversity, populations, and nationally threatened species. From September 1997 to January 1998 the wetlands were managed by a sub committee of the Murrumbidgee Field Naturalists under the direction of the NSW Department of Land and Water Conservation after which time, a formal management committee was appointed by the NSW Department of Land and Water Conservation. This management committee in 2000 became the Fivebough and Tuckerbil Wetlands Management Trust. The Trust developed, 2001–2002, in consultation with the Leeton community and others the nomination of Fivebough and Tuckerbil Wetlands as a Wetland of International Importance and submitted it to the NSW State and Commonwealth Governments May 29, 2002, together with a comprehensive plan of management for the wetlands. Amongst the objectives of the plan of management are waterbird conservation, education and eco-tourism, with acknowledgment and respect for the cultural significance of the wetlands to the local Wiradjuri people. [3]

Ramsar values

The wetlands were recognised as being of international importance because of the presence, abundance and diversity of their waterbirds, including migratory waders and threatened species. Both wetlands act as waterbird habitat and refuge within an agricultural landscape, gaining some of their habitat values from human uses of the site, such as livestock grazing, flood mitigation and sewage treatment. [2]

Birds

Some of the land covered by the two wetlands has been identified by BirdLife International as a 328 ha Important Bird Area because it supports significant numbers of the endangered Australasian bittern and over 1% of the world populations of glossy ibis and sharp-tailed sandpiper. [4] The wetlands also provide habitat for the Australian painted snipe and Tuckerbil serves as an important flocking area for brolgas. [3]

Related Research Articles

Yalgorup National Park Protected area in Western Australia

Yalgorup National Park is a national park in Western Australia, 105 km south of Perth, and directly south of Mandurah

Macquarie Marshes Nature Reserve Protected area in New South Wales, Australia

The Macquarie Marshes Nature Reserve is a protected natural wetland reserve that is located within the Macquarie Marshes, in the region along the lower Macquarie River in northwestern New South Wales, Australia. The 19,824-hectare (48,990-acre) reserve is situated approximately 600 kilometres (370 mi) northwest of Sydney and 100 kilometres (62 mi) north of Warren.

A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. The Convention on Wetlands, known as the Ramsar Convention, is an intergovernmental environmental treaty established in 1971 by UNESCO, which came into force in 1975. It provides for national action and international cooperation regarding the conservation of wetlands, and wise sustainable use of their resources. Ramsar identifies wetlands of international importance, especially those providing waterfowl habitat.

Leeton, New South Wales Town in New South Wales, Australia

Leeton is a town located in the Riverina region of southern New South Wales, Australia. Situated approximately 550 km west of Sydney and 450 km north of Melbourne in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, it is the administrative centre of the Leeton Shire Council local government area. Leeton's urban population in 2016 was 6,931. Situated in one of the most productive farming regions in the state, the town was designed by Walter Burley Griffin and purpose-built for the irrigation schemes announced by the New South Wales government in the early 1900s. Citrus, rice, cotton, grapes, walnuts and wheat farms can all be found throughout the Leeton Shire. Leeton is renowned as Australia's Rice Capital and as The Heart of SunRice Country, as it is home to the SunRice headquarters. Other industry includes Freedom Foods, the Daily Drinks Co., JBS Australia, Webster Limited and Murrumbidgee Irrigation Limited.

Spittal Pond Nature Reserve

Spittal Pond Nature Reserve is the largest wildlife sanctuary in Bermuda, located close to the Atlantic coast of Smith's Parish. Surrounding the third largest pond in Bermuda, Spittal Pond, it covers an area of 60 acres (24 ha). It is one of 13 parks or reserves managed by the Bermuda Department of Conservation Services which protects and conserves environmentally critical areas and habitats. The pond reserve, a wetland site, is one of the seven Ramsar Sites in Bermuda, which was approved on 10 May 1999 for the criteria of its unique characteristics such as its lagoon which is permanently brackish, ecology featuring wet grassland and mangrove forests, seasonal shorebirds, other ver run waterbirds and European eels. It is also home to many types of species mostly including birds.

Paroo-Darling National Park Protected area in New South Wales, Australia

The Paroo-Darling National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Far West region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The 178,053-hectare (439,980-acre) national park spans two distinct regions in the outback area. This region covers the arid catchments of the Paroo River and the Paroo-Darling confluence to the south.

Yanga National Park Protected area in New South Wales, Australia

The Yanga National Park is a newly formed national park, located near the township of Balranald in south- western New South Wales. It covers an area of 66,734 hectares which includes 1,932 hectares of Yanga Nature Reserve, and has a frontage of 170 kilometres (110 mi) on the Murrumbidgee River. It is largely located in the Lower Murrumbidgee Floodplain, which is included on A Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia because of its importance as a breeding site for waterbirds when flooded.

The Port Phillip Bay and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar Site is one of the Australian sites listed under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance. It was designated on 15 December 1982, and is listed as Ramsar Site No.266. Much of the site is also part of either the Swan Bay and Port Phillip Bay Islands Important Bird Area or the Werribee and Avalon Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of their importance for wetland and waterbirds as well as for orange-bellied parrots. It comprises some six disjunct, largely coastal, areas of land, totalling 229 km2, along the western shore of Port Phillip and on the Bellarine Peninsula, in the state of Victoria. Wetland types protected include shallow marine waters, estuaries, freshwater lakes, seasonal swamps, intertidal mudflats and seagrass beds.

Edithvale-Seaford Wetlands

The Edithvale-Seaford Wetlands are a group of two principally freshwater swamps, totalling 261 hectares, lying in the suburbs of Aspendale, Edithvale, Chelsea Heights, and Seaford in south-eastern Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Together they form the Edithvale-Seaford Wetlands Ramsar Site. With the nearby Eastern Treatment Plant, they form the Carrum Wetlands Important Bird Area.

Toolibin Lake

Toolibin Lake is a seasonal fresh to brackish water perched lake or wooded swamp, in south-western Australia. The lake is contained with a 493-hectare (1,218-acre) nature reserve and it is located about 200 kilometres (124 mi) south-east of Perth, in the Shire of Narrogin, and 40 kilometres (25 mi) east of the town of Narrogin, in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. The lake is listed by the Australian Government as a threatened ecological community under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

The Forrestdale and Thomsons Lakes Ramsar Site comprises two separate nature reserves, totalling 754 ha in area, protecting two shallow fresh to brackish, seasonal lakes in a suburban and agricultural landscape in south-western Western Australia. It lies in the Swan Coastal Plain bioregion and is used mainly for birdwatching and walking. The site is recognised as being of international importance under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, under which it was designated Ramsar Site 481 on 7 June 1990.

Banrock Station Wetland Complex

Banrock Station Wetland Complex is a wetland complex located in South Australia which has been recognised as being of international importance by designation under the Ramsar Convention. It was listed on 21 October 2002 as Ramsar site 1221. It lies in the Riverland region of south-eastern South Australia and is adjacent to the Murray River. It is a floodplain wetland subject to an ongoing environmental restoration program by a commercial organisation which manages the wetlands and promotes ecologically sustainable land use practices. In 2002 Banrock Station Wines received the Ramsar Wetland Conservation Award in recognition of its conservation efforts.

Narran Wetlands Protected area in New South Wales, Australia

The Narran Wetlands, also known as the Narran Lakes, contained within the Narran Lakes Nature Reserve, comprise a series of protected ephemeral lakes and swamps fed by the Narran River in the north-west of New South Wales, Australia. The 26,480-hectare (65,400-acre) reserve is located approximately 50 kilometres (31 mi) east of Brewarrina.

North Victorian Wetlands

The North Victorian Wetlands, also known as the Kerang Wetlands, comprise an extensive series of over 100 freshwater, brackish and saline lakes and swamps on the floodplain of the Loddon River where it enters the Murray valley, in the vicinity of the town of Kerang, in northern Victoria, south-eastern Australia. They are important for a variety, and sometimes large numbers, of waterbirds.

Gwydir Wetlands

The Gwydir Wetlands comprise a system of irregularly inundated wetlands associated with the Gwydir River in the North West Slopes region of north-eastern New South Wales, Australia. When flooded they form an important site for breeding waterbirds.

Jubho Lagoon is a large shallow brackish lagoon located in Sindh, Pakistan. In May 2011 Jubhoo lagoon was inducted into the list of Ramsar sites, consisting of wetlands of international importance.

Berthas Beach Important Bird Area

Bertha's Beach Important Bird Area comprises 3300 ha of coastal wetlands at the entrance to Choiseul Sound, on the east coast of East Falkland, in the Falkland Islands. It lies about 8 km south-east of Mount Pleasant Airport and 40 km south-west of Stanley. It has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because of its significancer for a variety of migratory waders and other waterbirds. Overlapping it is the 4000 ha Bertha's Beach Ramsar site, recognising it as a wetland of international importance.

Lake Pinaroo

Lake Pinaroo lies in Sturt National Park in the Far West region of New South Wales, Australia. On 17 March 1996 the lake was recognised as a wetland of international importance by designation (RS799) under the Ramsar Convention.

Cumbung Swamp Protected area in New South Wales, Australia

The Cumbung Swamp, also known as the Great Cumbung Swamp, is a wetland made up of the ecosystems surrounding the junction of the Murrumbidgee and Lachlan Rivers in the South West Region of New South Wales. When it is at full capacity, the swamp supports a large population of migratory waterbirds as well as one of the largest reed swamps in the Murray Darling Basin.

References

  1. ↑ "Fivebough and Tuckerbil Swamps". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Fivebouh and Tuckerbil Swamps". Annotated Ramsar List: Australia. Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. 4 January 2000. Archived from the original on 19 September 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Schultz, Mike (2004). "Fivebough and Tuckerbil Swamps" (PDF). Wetlands Australia (12): 10–12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 April 2011.
  4. ↑ "IBA: Fivebough and Tuckerbil Swamps". Birdata. Birds Australia. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2011.

Coordinates: 34°31′32″S146°25′23″E / 34.52556°S 146.42306°E / -34.52556; 146.42306

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.