coastal and marine natural values of the kimberley - wwf - Australia

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20. Coastal and Marine Natural Values of the Kimberley3.PROTECTEDAREAS3.1 COASTAL WETLANDS3.1.1 Ramsar WetlandsThere are three Ramsar wetlands in the Kimberley coastal region: Ashmore Reef,Roebuck Bay and Eighty Mile Beach (Figure 4).Figure 4: Ramsar Sites in the Northern Kimberley and DampierlandEighty Mile Beach and Roebuck Bay are distinct in that they provide habitat quitedifferent from the estuaries further north. With the exception of King Sound, RoebuckBay is the only extensive area of tidal mudflat in the region.The Ramsar Information Sheets provide a limited description of the ecologicalcharacter of these sites (Table 4). With the possible exception of Ashmore Reef, thesites are of particular note for their migratory waterbirds and support internationallysignificant numbers (section 6.9).
Coastal and Marine Natural Values of the Kimberley21.SiteAshmore Reef Ramsardesignation: 2002Area: 58,300 haEighty-mile BeachRamsar designation : 1990Area: 125,000 haRoebuck BayRamsar designation: 1990Area: 55,000 haKey Features (from Ramsar Information Sheet)• Habitat for >40 species listed on JAMBA/CAMBA/ROKAMBA• ~10,000 nesting Green Turtles + 11,000 feeding, including someLoggerhead and Hawksbill Turtles.• Small population of Dugong.• Three species of endemic sea snake.• >50,000 pairs of breeding seabird (notable for Sooty Tern, CrestedTern, Common Noddy).• Regularly supports >1% East Asian-Australasian fl yway population ofRuddy Turnstone, Grey-tailed Tattler).• Most important area for waders in northwest Australia.• Critical landfall for southward-migrating birds.• Numerous species regularly exceed 1% of the East Asian-Australasian fl yway population.• RIS says it regularly supports >100,000 birds – this may be anunderestimate. Recent coordinated counts in excess of 350,000shorebirds.• Fourth most important shorebird site in Australia• Numerous species regularly exceed 1% of the East Asian-Australasian fl yway population.• Under consideration for marine reserve status (CALM, WA)Table 4: Key features of the region’s three Ramsar sites.3.1.2 Nationally Important WetlandsIn addition to Ramsar sites, the Directory of Important Wetlands of Australia(Australia, 2001) lists 13 sites in the Dampierland and Northern Kimberley bioregions.Nine of these are at coastal or near-coastal locations.Figure 5: Coastal or near-coastal wetlands from the Directory of ImportantWetlands of Australia (Australia, 2001).
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coastal and marine natural values of the kimberley - wwf - Australia

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