Values at risk
The MIPs are framed within a range of higher level policies relevant to managing water quality in the Great Barrier Reef ( GBR ), including the Queensland and Australian Government Reef 2050 Long Term Sustainability Plan ( Reef 2050 Plan ) and the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan . The overall goals and objectives of these plans are clearly directed towards protecting and maintaining the values of the Great Barrier Reef . For example , the desired long term outcome for the Reef 2050 Plan is that ‘ Water quality entering the Great Barrier Reef from broad-scale land use has no detrimental impact on the health and resilience of the Great Barrier Reef ’. Both plans contain pollutant reduction targets to contribute to this outcome , including a 20 per cent reduction in anthropogenic end-ofcatchment loads of sediment in priority areas by 2018 , on the way to achieving up to a 50 per cent reduction in priority areas by 2025 . The Burdekin WQIP 2016 further refined the sediment reduction targets within the Burdekin region , and identified that by 2025 , there is a 57 % reduction in total annual average sediment loads from the BBB catchment ( NQ Dry Tropics , 2016 ; Brodie et al . 2016 ).
Coppo and Brodie ( 2015 ) have recently reviewed the status and trends , and threats to wetlands , coastal and marine ecosystems in the Burdekin Region to support the development of the WQIP . This information is summarised below . However , it is recognised that there are also environmental , social and economic values within the BBB catchment that will also benefit from the activities to be included in the MIP . It is not within the scope of this report to provide a comprehensive overview of the waterway values in the BBB , but it is recognised as an information need that may be beneficial in communicating the goals and objectives of the MIP to the BBB catchment community .
5.1 Freshwater and coastal wetlands
Fourteen coastal ecosystems have been identified as important to the functioning of the GBR : coral reefs , lagoon floor , islands , open water , seagrasses , coastline , estuaries , freshwater wetlands , forested floodplain , heath and shrublands , grass and sedgelands , woodlands , forests and rainforests ( GBRPMA , 2012 ).
The region includes Bowling Green Bay ( 346 square kilometres ), a Ramsar-listed wetland of international significance , and 12 coastal wetlands of national significance . There are at least 4,970 lacustrine and palustrine wetlands located throughout the region and , of these , approximately 1,500 are located along the coastal catchments . These wetlands provide habitat for internationally and nationally important shorebirds , waterbirds , waders and seabirds particularly in the vicinity of the Bowling Green Bay Ramsar wetlands . Two species are considered Critically Endangered ; Curlew Sandpiper and Eastern Curlew , three Near Threatened ; Beach Stone-Curlew , Black-tailed Godwit and Grey-tailed Tattler and one Vulnerable ; Great Knot . The Ramsar site seasonally supports both a wide variety of waterbird species , together with significant numbers . The site supports the largest populations of breeding and feeding brolgas ( 4,000 ) and magpie geese ( 10,000 ) in northeast Queensland . Of the 224 bird species known to occur in the site , 103 are known to breed within the site and at least 19 roosts have been identified . Approximately 30 species are listed under several international agreements ( JAMBA , CAMBA and ROKAMBA ) and the Bonn Convention .
5.2 Coastal and marine ecosystems
The Burdekin Region contains extensive estuarine systems ( mangroves , saltmarsh / saltflats and intertidal flats ) which provide important habitat for many coastal and marine species . The region includes four declared Fish Habitat Areas : Bohle River , Cleveland Bay , Bowling- Green Bay and Burdekin with a total area of 187,491 hectares that includes many of the estuaries of the region and a significant area of the coast .
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