WA wetlands protection list untouched for 21 years as development soars

But concerns around impacts the listing would have on agricultural interests, despite general support, meant the department did not take the nomination any further.

The white-bellied frog is a rare amphibian found around the Lower Blackwood.

The only other attempt at a Ramsar nomination since has been for a stretch of the Blackwood River in the South West running from the top of the Hardy Inlet at the southern town of Augusta and inland.

The Lower Blackwood River is a nationally significant wetland which supports two of WA’s most critically endangered frog species.

The white-bellied and orange-bellied frogs.

“While there was overall general support for both proposed Ramsar sites, there were concerns that the Ramsar listing would limit or prohibit current land practices … including agricultural and residential uses,” a spokesperson for the modern Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions said.

“Therefore, the department was not able to progress the nominations.

“The requirements to add a wetland to the Ramsar list are set out in the international convention and require a number of supporting documents including a summary of consultative outcomes for the nomination.

WA Greens MP Brad Pettitt said it had been a failure of leadership that no listings for important sites had been progressed in the past decade with the last community consultation taking place 12 years ago.

“This is despite overall general support for both proposed Ramsar sites even back then. A lot has changed in the last decade and the latest State of the Environment Report shows that stronger environmental protections are going to be required if we are to protect these species,” he said.

“It is an upside-down process when key sites in Western Australia – which are identified as being of international importance in conserving biological diversity for Ramsar listing – are not listed due to agricultural and residential uses.

“Especially when these current uses are clearly not compatible with their international importance for migratory species.

Biodiversity values have already gone backwards at Ramsar wetlands in Australia and WA.

In 2009 the country was criticised for not providing information on the neglected state of its listed wetlands.

A report from the WA Conservation and Parks Commission, which oversees the DBCA, in 2017 found Forrestdale and Thomsons Lakes in Perth had exceeded the acceptable limit of change for criteria they were originally listed for.

“Principally, this is a combination of lower maximum water levels, earlier drying out and reduced inundation periods. Associated causes are the spread of plants that prefer drier conditions and a resultant loss of wader habitat.”

Systematic waterbird monitoring stopped at Thomsons Lake in 2010.

The report suggested there was a lack of resources for proper monitoring of the Ramsar sites.

The need for more monitoring was also identified in the much maligned Strategic assessment of the Perth and Peel Regions, which has stalled under both the McGowan and Barnett governments.

They said Lake Carnegie, an ephemeral lake near Wiluna, has been raised with the DBCA by traditional owners as a site of ecological significance which a biological survey has confirmed meets Ramsar criteria for listing.

“Any nomination will be progressed in partnership with traditional owners, through the Tarlka Matuwa Piarku Aboriginal Corporation, and will include broader stakeholder consultation as required,” the spokesperson said.

WA Ramsar sites