Flood Plain Lower Ringarooma River Ramsar site Ecological Character Description March 2012 Blank page Citation
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Date of DescriptionThis ecological character description was undertaken in October 2008 (and updated in June 2010), approximately 28 years after the Flood Plain Lower Ringarooma River Site was listed in November 1982. It is a Ramsar Convention requirement that the ecological character description reflects the conditions at the time of listing. Consequently, this document is focused on the 1982 condition of the site. Due to a paucity of pre-listing information, this ECD utilises various studies and reports on the wetland system undertaken since listing, interpreted to infer the conditions at the time of listing as accurately as possible.
Most of the treaties, legislation and regulations relevant to the protection of the site have been enacted subsequent to its 1982 listing date. However, this section discusses relevant legislation and regulations up to present day.
Ramsar Convention The Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971) or as it is more commonly known, the Ramsar Convention, is an international treaty dedicated to the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands (Environment Australia 2001). Australia was one of the first 18 countries to become a signatory to the Convention in 1971. The Ramsar Convention Bureau maintains a List of Wetlands of International Importance that includes 64 Australian sites totalling 7.5 million hectares. Australia’s obligation to protect and maintain the ecological character of its Ramsar sites is recognised in Commonwealth legislation through the EPBC Act. Ramsar wetlands and the EPBC Act Under the EPBC Act, any action or proposed action that is likely to have a significant impact on the ecological character of a declared Ramsar wetland is considered a matter of National Environmental Significance and should be referred to the Commonwealth Minister for Environment for assessment. Actions that are considered to have an effect or potential effect on wetland ecological character involve:
The EPBC Act also dictates standards for managing Ramsar wetlands through the Australian Ramsar Management Principles that have been established as regulations under the Act (Environment Australia 2001). International conventions on migratory species Australia is a signatory to five international conventions on migratory species. The conventions are:
JAMBA, CAMBA and ROKAMBA are bilateral agreements between the governments of Japan and Australia, China and Australia and the Republic of Korea and Australia, respectively, which seek to protect migratory birds in their migration flight paths. Each agreement lists species that migrate between Australia and the respective countries. In each case the majority of listed species are shorebirds. Each agreement requires the parties to protect migratory birds, including the protection and conservation of their habitats. The JAMBA agreement also includes specific provisions for cooperation on conservation of threatened birds (DEH 2005). The Bonn CMS adopts a framework in which countries with jurisdiction over any part of the range of a particular species co-operate to prevent migratory species becoming endangered. For Australian purposes, many of the migratory species are birds. In 1993, Australia ratified its support of the CBD, whose objectives include the conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of its components and fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from commercial and other utilisation of genetic resources. Appropriate management of Ramsar wetlands results in the conservation of biodiversity and wise use of its components.
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The principle Commonwealth environmental legislation that relates to wetland conservation is the EPBC Act. Under the EPBC Act any actions that have, or are likely to have, a significant impact on a matter of national environmental significance require approval from the Commonwealth Environment Minister. There are seven matters of national environmental significance identified in the Act; three of these relevant to the site are:
The Tasmanian legislation of most relevance to the site includes the
The Threatened Species Protection Act (TSPA) establishes a Scientific Advisory Committee and enables the development of threatened species lists, strategies, threat abatement and recovery plans. The TSPA also enables the imposition of interim protection orders and facilitates the development of land-management plans. Threatened vegetation communities at the site and elsewhere in Tasmania are protected through recent amendments to the Nature Conservation Act and the Forest Practices Act:
The new legislation establishes a list of threatened communities under the Nature Conservation Act (NCA 2002), and provides measures to protect these communities from clearance and conversion under the Forest Practices Act. The Inland Fisheries Act details fishing regulations and licence requirements in freshwater areas, as well as prohibited actions in relation to impacts on fish in these areas. The Living Marine Resources Management Act 1995 contains similar provisions for the estuarine and marine areas of the site. The Regional Reserve and the Conservation Area have been declared under the Nature Conservation Act 2002, which sets out the values and purposes of each reserve class and are managed in accordance with the National Parks and Reserve Management Act 2002.
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