Queensland

We have monitored the condition of natural, freshwater floodplain wetlands (lakes and vegetated swamps) in major aggregations within the Great Barrier Reef catchment area (GBRCA) annually since 2016.

With this information, we can analyse the changes in wetland condition annually since 2016 (annual trend). We assess wetland condition in terms of its overall state along with 4 attributes that describe wetland environmental values:

• biotic integrity (the biological health and diversity of a wetland)
• local physical integrity (a wetland’s natural physical state and integrity)
• local hydrology (a wetland’s natural hydrological cycle)
• connectivity (the natural interaction of a wetland with other ecosystems, including other wetlands).

During 2016-2022, annually there was:

• no improvement or decline in the overall condition of freshwater floodplain wetlands across the GBRCA
• a minor improvement in wetland local physical integrity
• a minor decline in the biotic integrity.

Wetland Tracker

In the Great Barrier Reef wetland condition monitoring program, we use the rapid assessment method, Wetland Tracker. It measures progress towards the improved wetland condition objective of the Reef 2050 Long Term Sustainability Plan, including the Reef 2050 Water Quality Improvement Plan

We use desktop analysis based on imagery and spatial data to score a set of indicators primarily related to pressure on the wetlands.

Pressures include:

• pest plant and animal introductions
• habitat modification
• water regime changes
• pollutant inputs.

We collect data from the field to ground-truth desktop indicators and score another set of indicators primarily related to the condition of wetlands.

These indicators include:

• biological and physical integrity
• local hydrology
• connectivity to nearby wetlands and native vegetation.

We analyse the scores from individual wetlands together to generate the overall pressure and condition scores and trends in condition for Great Barrier Reef catchment wetlands.

Regional summaries

Since 2020, the number of wetlands we survey annually has increased gradually to enable the assessment and reporting of wetland condition for Natural Resource Management (NRM) regions in addition to the GBRCA-wide assessment and reporting.

We have collected baseline data on the condition of natural, freshwater floodplain wetlands in major aggregations within these regions:

• Wet Tropics
• Burdekin
• Fitzroy
• Burnett Mary.

In future years, baseline data may be compared with annual data to assess changes over time in the regions’ wetland condition.

An expanded survey effort did not occur in the Mackay Whitsunday or Cape York NRM regions because of constrained sample size and logistical constraints, respectively.