Tomago Wetland Restoration – Australia

(located in the Hunter River estuary, a Ramsar-listed wetland near the city of Newcastle, Australia)

Many estuarine floodplains in eastern Australia were isolated from tidal waters in the 1950’s and 1960’s as a consequence of flood mitigation measures. Over recent years, efforts have been made to re-introduce tidal waters to impounded wetlands to facilitate fish passage and the restoration of habitat for shorebirds. The Tomago Wetland restoration is one such program.

The project is a collaboration between NSW Fisheries, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Hunter Regional Local Land Services, and the Water Research Laboratory at the University of New South Wales. The implications of tidal reinstatement for carbon sequestration is being investigated by scientists from Macquarie University, Sydney, and the University of Wollongong. An eddy covariance tower has been deployed to monitor greenhouse gas flux prior to and following tidal reinstatement, and Surface Elevation Tables are used to monitor the contribution of tidal inundation to wetland accretion.

For more information, contact Professor Neil Saintilan at the Department of Environmental Sciences, Macquarie University (neil.saintilan@mq.edu.au)