Oral Presentation Australian Society for Limnology Conference 2017

Managing estuarine wetlands at Sydney Olympic Park requires local innovation and adaptation (#35)

Swapan Paul 1
  1. Sydney Olympic Park Authority, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Sydney Olympic Park in Australia inherits a suite of estuarine and freshwater wetlands; many of which are either purpose built, modified or remnant. Prior to the Sydney 2000 Olympics, many degraded wetlands were rehabilitated and some new wetlands were constructed to perform biodiversity, flood mitigation, recreational and educational experiences. Together, they form the largest contiguous wetlands on the Parramatta River system and host a range of threatened species, ecosystems and communities. They are interlinked or separated by features such as public recreation spaces, educational facilities, commercial and residential establishments and other infrastructure. These highly urbanised wetlands pose many challenges in regard to their day-to-day maintenance,  in addition to meeting  the obligations for biodiversity conservation as well as provisioning of Ecosystem Services. Over the past two decades a multitude of tools and techniques have been developed to manage these wetlands. Many of these tools and techniques are uniquely local but still offer appeal to other wetland managers. Some of the tools are timeless yet others require fast adaptation in response to local influences as well as Climate Change and Sea Level Rise. Sitting at the receiving end of several catchments, these wetlands face enormous pressure from urban development, public amenities, residential and industrial development as well as tourism. Many rehabilitation and restoration programs have been successfully implemented and by now those programs show benefits and values. Particularly, projects in response to Climate Change and Sea Level Rise are important examples The Authority's Wetland Education and Training (WET) Program provides a platform for sharing those innovative and creative solutions to problems that are common to many. Over the past 15 years this program has provides training to more than 1,500 wetland practitioners across the country. In this presentation some examples of the above will be shared.