Draft Ramsar Management Plan: Coorong and Lakes Alexandrina and Albert Wetland

Have your say on the draft Ramsar Management Plan for the Coorong and Lakes Alexandrina and Albert Wetland

What's being decided?

We are seeking public feedback on the draft Ramsar Management Plan: the Coorong and Lakes Alexandrina and Albert Wetland (RMP).

The draft RMP provides the framework to protect and maintain the ecological character of the Coorong and Lakes Alexandrina and Albert Wetland, which is critical for the environment, First Nations, local communities and economies, the overall health of the Murray-Darling Basin and the success of the Basin Plan.

Background

The Coorong is one of South Australia’s most iconic natural assets and is recognised as a ‘Wetland of International Importance’ under the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar 1971).

The Coorong and Lakes Alexandrina and Albert Wetland Ramsar site provides significant environmental values which underpin the recreational and economic benefits of the region, such as tourism and commercial fishing.

Culturally, the Coorong and Lakes Alexandrina and Albert Wetland Ramsar site is of great importance to the Ngarrindjeri and First Nations of the South East as their spiritual, social, cultural, and economic practices come from the region's lands and waters, and they continue to maintain their cultural heritage, economies, languages, and lores which are of ongoing importance.

Since the original Ramsar Management Plan was developed in 2000, there has been significant progress in both environmental management practices and scientific investigations of the site. This progress has aided in identifying:

• priority values and threats to the ecological character of the wetland
• targets for managing different parts of the site
• triggers for taking action to protect the site.

The revised draft RMP incorporates the above identifiers along with the experiences, knowledge and learnings from the Millennium Drought, to ensure a strategic approach to managing this large and complex natural system.

Get involved

Find out more by reading:

• Draft Ramsar Management Plan: the Coorong and Lakes Alexandrina and Albert Wetland
• Frequently asked questions
• Ramsar Management Plan fact sheet.

Have your say by:

• taking our survey below and telling us what you think of the draft RMP.

If you would like more information or have any questions, please email us at project.coorong@sa.gov.au

What are the next steps?

We will consider all feedback when finalising the draft Ramsar Management Plan. We will release the final RMP later this year and will make it available on this page.