Wonnerup Wetlands

Statement of Significance

• The wetlands have aesthetic value for the combination of land forms, flora and fauna which provide a dramatic and expansive landscape alongside the coastline. • The wetlands have historic value for their ongoing connection with dreamtime narratives, the experience of early settlers and attempts to manage the environment. • The place has historic value as a demonstration of the change in understanding of the natural environment through the 1971 International Ramsar Convention. • The site has potential to provide further understanding of indigenous flora and fauna because of the extent of the populations in the wetlands. • The wetlands are a valued resource for the community as it is expansive and well known contributing to the community sense of place.

Physical Description

These wetlands cover approximately 1109ha across the localities of Wonnerup and Reinscourt. Vasse-Wonnerup System Ramsar Site is a shallow, extensive, nutrient-rich wetland system with widely varying salinities. Water within the Site fluctuates from fresh to brackish depending on the season. It provides dry-season habitat for tens of thousands of resident and migrant waterbirds of a wide variety of species including the Australian shelduck (Tadorna tadornoides), Australian shoveler (Anas rhynchotis), black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus), and red-necked avocet (Recurvirostra novaehollandiae). It also regularly supports the largest breeding colony of black swan (Cygnus atratus) in south-western Australia. In winter, broad expanses of open water are fringed by samphire and rushes. There are melaleuca woodlands behind the samphire belt and eucalyptus woodlands on higher ground. The Vasse and Wonnerup lagoons (former estuaries) are the two principal components of the Vasse-Wonnerup System and act as compensating basins for water discharging from four rivers through the use of weirs (flood gates).

History

The Busselton Wetlands are a location of a Creation / Dreaming Narrative as designated in the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Inquiry System. These wetlands were a source of game for the early settlers of the region and the management of the water system was important to the establishment of farming in the region. The floodgates located within the wetlands (PN118) demonstrate the methods of control used by authorities to control the environment, specifically limiting flood damage in the town of Busselton. The Vasse-Wonnerup wetlands were listed as a Wetland of International Importance, under the Ramsar Convention, in June 1990. The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands came into force for Australia on 21 December 1975. Australia has 63 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance. The Vasse-Wonnerup System (Ramsar site no. 484) is listed as internationally important as a dry season habitat for waterbirds. Up to 33,000 birds have been counted at the site. In winter, broad expanses of open water are fringed by samphire and rushes. Melaleuca woodlands occur behind the samphire belt and Eucalyptus woodland is found on higher ground. At least 1% of the Australian population of stilt Himantopus himantopus and at least 1% of the world population of avocet Recurvirostra novaehollandiae use the site in most years

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Historic Themes

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