Port Phillip Bay (Western Shoreline) and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar Site
Encyclopedia
The Port Phillip Bay and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar Site is one of the Australia
n 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 Parrot
s. 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
lake
s, seasonal swamp
s, intertidal mudflat
s and seagrass
beds.
The subsites include:
s (based on supporting at least 1% of the flyway population) for 14 species – Double-banded Plover
, Red-kneed Dotterel
, Grey Plover
, Pacific Golden Plover
, Banded Stilt
, Red-necked Avocet
, Pied Oystercatcher
, Curlew Sandpiper
, Red-necked Stint
, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
. Eastern Curlew, Ruddy Turnstone
, Common Greenshank and Marsh Sandpiper
.
All the main parts of the Ramsar site support threatened fauna, including all the most important known wintering sites of the critically endangered
Orange-bellied Parrot
.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n sites listed under the Ramsar Convention
Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i.e., to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural,...
as a wetland
Wetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
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
Swan Bay and Port Phillip Bay Islands Important Bird Area
The Swan Bay and Port Phillip Bay Islands Important Bird Area comprises a cluster of disparate sites centred at the eastern end of the Bellarine Peninsula, and the southern end of Port Phillip, in Victoria, south-eastern Australia...
or the Werribee and Avalon Important Bird Area
Werribee and Avalon Important Bird Area
The Werribee and Avalon Important Bird Area comprises some 37 km2 of coastal land along the north-western shore of Port Phillip in the state of Victoria, south-eastern Australia...
, identified as such by BirdLife International
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources...
because of their importance for wetland
Wetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
and waterbirds as well as for Orange-bellied Parrot
Orange-bellied Parrot
The Orange-bellied Parrot is a small broad-tailed parrot endemic to southern Australia, and one of only two species of parrot which migrate. The adult male is distinguished by its bright grass-green upperparts, yellow underparts and orange belly patch. The adult female and juvenile are duller...
s. It comprises some six disjunct, largely coastal, areas of land, totalling 229 km2, along the western shore of Port Phillip
Port Phillip
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...
and on the Bellarine Peninsula
Bellarine Peninsula
The Bellarine Peninsula is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Mornington Peninsula separates Port Phillip from Bass Strait...
, in the state of Victoria. Wetland types protected include shallow marine waters, estuaries
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
, freshwater
Freshwater
Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...
lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
s, seasonal swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
s, intertidal mudflat
Mudflat
Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats, are coastal wetlands that form when mud is deposited by tides or rivers. They are found in sheltered areas such as bays, bayous, lagoons, and estuaries. Mudflats may be viewed geologically as exposed layers of bay mud, resulting from deposition of...
s and seagrass
Seagrass
Seagrasses are flowering plants from one of four plant families , all in the order Alismatales , which grow in marine, fully saline environments.-Ecology:...
beds.
The subsites include:
- Part of Point CookPoint Cook, VictoriaPoint Cook is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 25 km south-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Wyndham. At the 2006 Census, Point Cook had a population of 14,162, now it is estimated that the population of Point Cook is 32,167...
, including the coastline from Skeleton Creek to the Point Cook Coastal Park - Much of the Werribee Sewage FarmWerribee Sewage FarmWerribee Sewage Farm or, more formally, the Western Treatment Plant of Melbourne Water, is an 110 km² sewage treatment farm adjacent to the town of Werribee, 30 km west of the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on the coast of Port Phillip Bay...
, as well as the adjacent Spit Nature Conservation ReserveSpit Nature Conservation ReserveThe Spit Nature Conservation Reserve is a 300 ha nature reserve on the north-western shore of Port Phillip, a large bay in Victoria, Australia. It consists of public land set aside to conserve and protect species, communities and habitats of indigenous plants and animals...
and Avalon AirfieldAvalon AirportAvalon Airport is the second busiest of the four airports serving Melbourne and is located in Avalon, Victoria, Australia, which is north-east of the city of Geelong and to the south-west of the state's capital city of Melbourne.... - A strip of coastline on the north shore of Corio BayCorio BayCorio Bay is one of numerous bays in the southwest corner of Australia's Port Phillip, and is the bay on which abuts the City of Geelong. The nearby suburb of Corio takes its name from Corio Bay.-Name:...
, including Point WilsonPoint Wilson, VictoriaPoint Wilson is a locality located on the northern shores of Corio Bay, Victoria. it is approximately 60 kilometres by road from Melbourne, and 25 kilometres by road from Geelong....
, Point LilliasPoint LilliasPoint Lillias is a narrow peninsula jutting southwards from the northern coast of Corio Bay, near the city of Geelong, in Victoria, Australia. It was formed by a southward trending tongue of lava from the volcanic flows of the Werribee Plains. The seaward end of the peninsula forms a low cliff...
and Limeburners Bay - Swan Bay at the eastern end of the Bellarine Peninsula
- Mud IslandsMud IslandsThe Mud Islands reserve is located within Port Phillip, about 90 km south-west of Melbourne, Australia, lying 10 km inside Port Phillip Heads, 7 km north of Portsea and 9 km east of Queenscliff. The land area of about 50 ha is made up of three low-lying islands surrounding a shallow tidal 35 ha...
in western Port Phillip - The Lake Connewarre wetland complex, including Lake ConnewarreLake ConnewarreLake Connewarre is a shallow estuarine lake located on the Barwon River, on the Bellarine Peninsula near Geelong, Victoria. It is adjacent to, and downstream from, the freshwater Reedy Lake...
, Reedy LakeReedy LakeReedy Lake, historically also known as Lake Reedy, is a shallow 5.5 km2 freshwater lake or swamp on the lower reaches of the Barwon River, on the Bellarine Peninsula near the city Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It is included in the Lake Connewarre State Game Reserve, which is managed by Parks...
, Murtnaghurt LagoonMurtnaghurt LagoonMurtnaghurt Lagoon, also known as Murtnaghurt Swamp or Lake Murtnaghurt, is a shallow, ephemeral wetland west of the town of Barwon Heads on the southern coast of the Bellarine Peninsula in Victoria, Australia. It comprises two enclosed depressions, elongated west-east and separated by a low ridge...
and the Barwon River estuaryBarwon River (Victoria)The Barwon River rises in the Otway Ranges of Victoria, Australia, runs through Winchelsea and the city of Geelong, where it is joined by the Moorabool River, and enters the sea at Barwon Heads after passing through Lake Connewarre on the Bellarine Peninsula...
in the south-western Bellarine Peninsula
Flora
Collectively, the various parts of the Ramsar site support 579 species of non-marine plants, of which about 40% (247 species) are non-indigenous. The list includes three nationally threatened species and 22 Victorian threatened species. One of the nationally threatened plants is the Spiny Rice-flower (Pimelea spinescens), recorded at the Werribee Sewage Farm.Fauna
The site was designated mainly because its value as waterbird habitat was recognised as being of international importance for waderWader
Waders, called shorebirds in North America , are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups. The latter are the skuas , gulls , terns , skimmers , and auks...
s (based on supporting at least 1% of the flyway population) for 14 species – Double-banded Plover
Double-banded Plover
The Double-banded Plover , known as the Banded Dotterel in New Zealand, is a small wader in the plover family of birds. It lives in beaches, mud flats, grasslands and on bare ground...
, Red-kneed Dotterel
Red-kneed Dotterel
The Red-kneed Dotterel is a long-legged, medium-sized plover in a monotypic genus in the subfamily Vanellinae. It is often gregarious and will associate with other waders of its own and different species, even when nesting...
, Grey Plover
Grey Plover
The Grey Plover , known as the Black-bellied Plover in North America, is a medium-sized plover breeding in arctic regions. It is a long-distance migrant, with a nearly worldwide coastal distribution when not breeding....
, Pacific Golden Plover
Pacific Golden Plover
The Pacific Golden Plover is a medium-sized plover.The 23–26 cm long breeding adult is spotted gold and black on the crown, back and wings. Its face and neck are black with a white border and it has a black breast and a dark rump. The legs are black...
, Banded Stilt
Banded Stilt
The Banded Stilt is a nomadic stilt from Australia. It belongs to the monotypical genus Cladorhynchus. It gets its name from the red-brown breast band found on breeding adults, but this is mottled or entirely absent in non-breeding adults and juveniles. Its remaining plumage is pied and the eyes...
, Red-necked Avocet
Red-necked Avocet
The Red-necked Avocet is a water bird found throughout Australia, except for the northern parts of the Northern Territory....
, Pied Oystercatcher
Pied Oystercatcher
The Pied Oystercatcher, Haematopus longirostris, is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading bird native to Australia and commonly found on its coastline. The similar South Island Pied Oystercatcher The Pied Oystercatcher, Haematopus longirostris, is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading...
, Curlew Sandpiper
Curlew Sandpiper
The Curlew Sandpiper is a small wader that breeds on the tundra of Arctic Siberia. It is strongly migratory, wintering mainly in Africa, but also in south and southeast Asia and in Australasia...
, Red-necked Stint
Red-necked Stint
The Red-necked Stint is a small migratory wader.- Description :These birds are among the smallest of waders, very similar to the Little Stint, Calidris minuta, with which they were once considered conspecific...
, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
The Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Calidris acuminata is a small wader.- Taxonomy :More recently, a review of new data has indicated that this bird should perhaps better be placed into the genus Philomachus- as P...
. Eastern Curlew, Ruddy Turnstone
Ruddy Turnstone
The Ruddy Turnstone is a small wading bird, one of two species of turnstone in the genus Arenaria. It is now classified in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae but was formerly sometimes placed in the plover family Charadriidae...
, Common Greenshank and Marsh Sandpiper
Marsh Sandpiper
The Marsh Sandpiper, Tringa stagnatilis, is a small wader. It is a rather small shank, and breeds in open grassy steppe and taiga wetlands from easternmost Europe to central Asia....
.
All the main parts of the Ramsar site support threatened fauna, including all the most important known wintering sites of the critically endangered
Critically endangered
Version 2010.3 of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 3744 Critically Endangered species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and subpopulations.Critically Endangered by kingdom:*1993 Animalia*2 Fungi*1745 Plantae*4 Protista-References:...
Orange-bellied Parrot
Orange-bellied Parrot
The Orange-bellied Parrot is a small broad-tailed parrot endemic to southern Australia, and one of only two species of parrot which migrate. The adult male is distinguished by its bright grass-green upperparts, yellow underparts and orange belly patch. The adult female and juvenile are duller...
.