WEST KIMBERLEY PLACE REPORT - Department of Sustainability ...

southwest of the State (DEH 2001). The authors also pointed out the high level of
endemism among wetland vertebrate species, with for example over 30 wetland frogs,
and 28 inland fishes being confined to Western Australia. In contrast, Vernes (2007)
states that there is a paucity of published information on Kimberley wetland systems
and that most catchments have lacked general baseline surveys. With respect to the
larger Ord and the Fitzroy systems, Vernes (2007) notes that these have been more
systematically surveyed and reported on, but that there are still gaps regarding
connectivity of floodplain wetlands, swamps and groundwater dependent systems.
Vernes also notes that to date there is not a national wetland typology, which makes it
difficult to classify wetland systems; though the High Conservation Value Aquatic
Ecosystem (HCVAE) classification (SKM 2007), when complete, will assist in
identifying wetland typologies. More recent work is examining the similarity between
rivers across northern Australia based on a features such as flow regimes, catchment
size, topography and geology, allowing a more systematic comparison between rivers
(O'Callaghan 2009). In their paper on an inventory of data for northern rivers, Lowry
and Alewijnse (2005) found that knowledge gaps exist on the ecological character of
many tropical rivers and wetlands, and that much of the data collected up to that point
was at the broad continental and catchment scales. While much has been done since
that time to address these gaps, much still remains to be surveyed and documented.
The Directory of Important Wetlands (DEH 2001) is a resource that can assist in a
comparative analysis of wetland systems across northern Australia. However,
researchers that compiled the Western Australian, Northern Territory and Queensland
sections of the Directory note that it is not a complete record of all wetlands in the
tropics. In the chapter on Western Australia, the authors noted that more field work is
needed to ensure that the diversity of wetlands in this western one third of the
continent is better represented (Lane and Lynch 2001). The Department hosted a two
day workshop in March 2010 to collate what additional information is known of
northern Australian wetlands and to determine how Kimberley systems compare to
other tropical systems, The national significance of the specific Kimberley wetlands
discussed below has been determined using a combination of statistics from the
Directory, other wetland publications and the expert opinion of workshop participants.
Roebuck Bay is Ramsar listed largely in recognition of its significance as an
international migratory bird destination. Sixty four species of waterbird have been
recorded at Roebuck Bay, 34 of which are listed under international treaties (JAMBA,
CAMBA and ROKAMBA). Watkins (1993) ranked Roebuck Bay as having the
highest numbers of waterbird species of international importance (20 species) in
Australia; additions to these lists have in subsequent years have seen the number
increase to 34. Species include Mongolian plovers (Charadrius mongolus), ruddy
turnstones (Arenaria interpres) and black-winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus). In
addition to international visitors, Australian resident breeding shorebirds also make
Roebuck Bay home for part of the year. Birds such as the red-necked avocet
(Recurvirostra novaehollandiae) use Roebuck Bay as a seasonal refuge, flying to the
site from inland Australian wetlands as they dry out. Roebuck Bay has been
considered more fully under criterion (d) for, among other values, waterbirds. The
above values are included here for comparative purposes for the other wetlands
discussed in this section.
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