CANBERRA, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government announced on Monday that an additional 1,400 hectares of wetlands in the southeastern state of Victoria will receive international recognition and stronger environmental protections to safeguard threatened migratory shorebirds.
The expansion will increase the size of the Port Phillip Bay (Western Shoreline) and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar Site to 24,110 hectares, according to a joint statement by federal Environment and Water Minister Murray Watt and Michaela Settle, Victorian minister for water.
The newly included areas comprise the Moolap Wetlands, parts of the Edwards Point Swan Bay Wildlife Reserve and Coastal Reserve, Lake Connewarre Complex Conservation Reserve, and Point Cook Cheetham Coastal Park and Marine Sanctuary.
The wetlands provide important saltmarsh and seagrass habitats for migratory shorebirds travelling thousands of kilometers along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, including the critically endangered curlew sandpiper and Far Eastern curlew.
The expansion will also provide greater protection for threatened plants, including spiny peppercress, which will be included within the Ramsar site for the first time.
Watt said the expansion would help protect internationally significant wetlands and safeguard wildlife and biodiversity for future generations.
The statement said the expanded listing would strengthen conservation efforts, support habitat restoration and improve the wetlands' resilience to climate change.
The extension will be submitted to the Convention on Wetlands Secretariat for adoption.
Australia currently has 67 wetlands recognized as internationally important under the Ramsar Convention, covering more than 8.3 million hectares, an area larger than the island state of Tasmania. ■