COASTAL WETLAND RESTORATION
The #VicWetlandRehab is a multi-disciplinary program– comprising Academia, Government, Industry, and Traditional Owners – guiding and undertaking the restoration of critical wetland habitat on both private and public land, helping to facilitate the recovery of some of Victoria’s most endangered birds, frogs and other threatened plants and animals.
This program allows Victorians to strategically invest in the health of our coast with respect to biodiversity enhancement, coastal and shoreline protection, marine life and fish habitat, and carbon sequestration – all of which are critical to our health, prosperity, and very existence.
Coastal wetlands have seen loss of 9,000 ha, or roughly 25% of their pre-European extent, and continue to face a range of human impacts. The loss of, or disturbance to these ecosystems has had drastic negative impacts on Victoria’s biodiversity, particularly resident or migratory birds.
Victoria’s new Climate Change Act 2017 and the proposed Marine and Coastal Bill 2017 offer significant opportunities to develop systems to improve the management and protection of Victoria’s coastal and marine areas, of which coastal wetlands represent a critical but degraded asset.
Our project targets several threatened, high-priority conservation areas along the Victorian coast, spanning Port Phillip Bay, Western Port Bay, and the Gippsland Lakes. Coastal wetlands in each of these locations have been highly degraded. Port Phillip Bay, for example, has lost ~50% (1700 ha) of its coastal saltmarsh due to agricultural development, anthropogenic modifications to tidal flow, and urban development.
The preservation of wetlands provides us with the opportunity to test research solutions for helping mitigate climate change and improve natural capital whilst simultaneously contributing to economic growth, capacity building alongside land managers, and community wellbeing in Victoria.
The Victorian Coastal Wetland Restoration program incorporates the following objectives:
Develop and test a wetland restoration and conservation strategy at a former salt works that will improve the existing ecological features while minimizing the need and cost for active site management and pumping.
Undertake on-ground restoration to repair threatened saltmarsh and wetland habitat using low cost, but high impact protection activities such as fencing.
Working with Traditional Owners to perform remedial work at a culturally significant coastal site containing the largest cluster of coastal Aboriginal cultural heritage sites within Port Phillip Bay.
Engaging local communities where restoration work is being completed to learn and help with the monitoring of the restoration works – thanks to a DELWP Community Climate Change Adaptation grant.
Through the Biodiversity Response Planning (BRP)– a new area-based planning approach to biodiversity conservation in Victoria, Deakin University’s Blue Carbon Lab has the opportunity to put years of science into on-ground action. To learn more about the on-ground actions, and research being done as part of this program you can explore the StoryMap.
Follow #VicWetlandRehab on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram for on-going project updates.
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Back in October 2020, Chase Aghan – Project Officer (Forest, Fire and Parks) for Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation and Dr BradRead more
The Australian Ethical Foundation has invested funding through their strategic grant into a 3-year PhD scholarship for the Blue Carbon Lab toRead more
Training and pre-restoration vegetation surveys are underway! In partnership with Coastcare Victoria and the Arthur Rylah Institute (ARI) we hosted a vegetationRead more
12 months of greenhouse gas and vegetation data collection completed! With the easing of some COVID-19 restrictions, the Blue Carbon Lab wasRead more
Thanks to project cost savings we’ve been able to install additional protection of Saltmarsh Habitat in Western Port! After the completion ofRead more
Time for tea! Exploring rates of carbon decomposition in different saltmarsh community types. As part of the Victorian Coastal Wetland Restoration Program,Read more
As part of the Victorian Coastal Wetland Restoration program, works are underway on our Gippsland Lakes saltmarsh site with vegetation monitoring andRead more
The Victorian Coastal Wetland Restoration Program (#VicWetlandRehab) targets several threatened, high-priority conservation areas (including RAMSAR-listed wetlands that are critical for migratory andRead more
Development of a Restoration Action Plan is underway! Researchers from UNSW Water Research Lab are creating a hydrodynamic model to test restorationRead more
Master’s students from the Blue Carbon Lab are investigating the impacts of tidal restriction and tidal reinstatement on saltmarsh sediments. Saltmarshes areRead more
Scientists from the Blue Carbon Lab have begun measuring ebullition from retired sewage treatment freshwater ponds #EbullitionMission In 2019 we sampled aRead more
On January 2020, the #VicWetlandRehab team was back on our Western Port site to continue monitoring work! Due to the devastating bushfiresRead more
Continue reading … Dr. Mel Wartman from the Blue Carbon Lab wrote a community engagement piece about Blue Carbon and the #VicWetlandRehabRead more
The Blue Carbon Lab headed back down to Avalon in mid-November 2019 to continue to monitor gas fluxes from the 6 differentRead more
In early November 2019, Wadawurrung Aboriginal Corporation (WAC) hosted an On Country meeting at Point Lillias to discuss management options with projectRead more
Spring Sampling for BRP Victorian Coastal Wetland Restoration Program Last week, Sept 30 to Oct 03 the #VicWetlandRehab team headed to ourRead more
In partnership with Greening Australia and the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation, the Blue Carbon Lab is one of the recipientsRead more
The Coastal Victorian Wetland Restoration Program has officially wrapped up the first year of work! In June 2019, members from the BlueRead more
Scientists from the Blue Carbon Lab have begun initial work for the Victorian Coastal Wetland Project. Earlier this year we worked closelyRead more
The Blue Carbon Lab is delighted to announce the successful funding of its project “Victorian Coastal Wetland Restoration” by the Biodiversity ResponseRead more
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Newsletter (4 edition | June 2020)
Newsletter (3 edition | Dec 2019)
Newsletter (2 edition | Sept 2019)
This program is funded by the Victorian Government’s Biodiversity Response Planning (BRP) program and is helping ensure that Victoria’s natural environment is healthy, valued and actively cared for. Partial funding support was provided by Deakin University and The Nature Conservancy (including a contribution from Dow Australia).
This work is led by Deakin University’s Blue Carbon Lab, involving partners from Parks Victoria; Greening Australia; UNSW Water Research Laboratory; Corangamite CMA, West Gippsland CMA; Melbourne Water; CoastCare Victoria; South Gippsland Conservation Society; The Nature Conservancy; Tasman Environmental Markets; Dow Australia; NSW Fisheries; and the Wadawurrung Wathaurung Aboriginal Corporation.
