2 February 2017

World Wetlands Day is celebrated internationally each year on 2 February and, in the midst of a wet season that’s bringing wetlands to life across much of the North, we think it’s timely to highlight these vitally important ecosystems and the research the Hub is doing to better understand them.

“Northern Australia is home to some of the world’s most vast and intact wetlands,” said Hub leader Professor Michael Douglas. “Hub research projects are increasing our knowledge of the importance of these wetlands to Indigenous people, to fisheries and to threatened species.”

“For example our previous research has revealed impacts of climate change and saltwater intrusion on wetlands, given us new remote sensing tools to detect water quality and delivered new understandings of the importance of floodplains to biodiversity and fish. We’re now building on all this to inform sustainable development in the North.”

The latest issue of the Wetlands Australia magazine, published today by the Australian Government’s Department of the Environment and Energy, features some of the Hub’s research. You can download it here.

Current Hub research projects with a focus on wetlands include:

• Research to improve our understanding of the flows needed to support natural assets in the Mitchell, Daly and Fitzroy Rivers;
• Research to identify which rivers in the Gulf of Carpentaria are making the most significant contribution to the health and productivity of the Gulf;
• Research to improve our knowledge of Indigenous water requirements within the Fitzroy River;
• Research to measure and mitigate the threats from feral animals to aquatic ecosystems in the Archer River Basin; and
• Research to guide improved management of riverbank (or riparian) habitats across the north.

For more information, see our Rivers and Wetlands page or email nesp.northern@cdu.edu.au