Gippsland Ramsar Sites

The Gippsland coast hosts two Ramsar Sites. One in the north and the other at the southern end of Ninety Mile Beach. A Ramsar Site is a wetland designated under the Ramsar Convention, which is an international treaty for wetland conservation, recognizing sites of "International Importance" for biodiversity. These sites represent unique or rare ecosystems that provide crucial waterfowl habitats, with members agreeing to manage them sustainably. Australia was a pioneer by designating the world's first Ramsar site in 1974. We now have over 60 sites protecting diverse wetland types like marshes, estuaries and forests from coastal to subalpine bogs. The Gippsland offshore Renewable Energy Zone poses an unaceptible risk to these critical habitats.

RAMSAR Site-1; Gippsland Lakes

The Gippsland Lakes Ramsar Site is one of twelve wetlands listed under the Ramsar Convention in Victoria and recognised for its significant coastal wetland values that feature critical habitats for migratory bird species. The Ramsar Site also supports other crucial ecosystem services, including nationally and internationally threatened wetland species, waterbird breeding and fish spawning sites. The Gippsland Lakes are an important tourism destination for the region, which supports commercial and recreational fisheries, boating, camping and general visitation activities.
The Gippsland Lakes communities rely heavily on its pristene environment to draw in tourests. The propposed offshore wind projects present a potentual threat to not only the environment and or the Ramsar Site listing, but the susstainability of the villages of Ninety Mile Beach lays in the ballance.

Unique Habitats

The area protects diverse habitats, including the world's most southerly population of white mangroves, extensive saltmarsh areas and vast broad-leaf seagrass meadows that act as a nursery for numerous fish species. The park and Ramsar site support a rich variety of marine life, including over 300 species of marine invertebrates like crabs, sea stars and iridescent squid. As well as fish species such as Pipefish, Stingarees, Flathead, and Whiting. It is also home to nationally threatened bird species, including the Orange-bellied Parrot and Eastern Curlew, which rely on the site's rich feeding and roosting areas.

Biodiversety

The Gippsland Lakes support a diverse range of over 90 species of waterbirds and approximately 300 native fauna species.
Waterbirds: Australian Pelicans (one of Australia's few permanent breeding rookeries), Black Swans, Chestnut Teals, Pacific Black Ducks, various cormorants, herons and egrets.
Raptors: The majestic White-bellied Sea-Eagle is a prominent, vulnerable species in the region.
Parrots and Bushbirds: Common land birds include Galahs, Rainbow Lorikeets, Crimson and Eastern Rosellas, Australian Magpies, Kookaburras, and Superb Fairy-wrens. Reed beds provide habitat for smaller birds like the Golden-headed Cisticola.

Pelican Rookery

Crescent Island is home to one of the few known permanent Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus) breeding colonies in Australia that's located in the Gippsland Lakes, Victoria. The colony is a significant site for observing these iconic birds in their natural breeding habitat.

Burrunan Dolphin

The Burrunan dolphin (Tursiops australis) is a critically endangered species found in only two known resident populations. One of which is in the Gippsland Lakes and the other is Port Phillip.

RAMSAR Site-2; Corner Inlet

The Corner Inlet Ramsar site, designated in December 1982, is the most southerly marine embayment and tidal mudflat system in mainland Australia, covering approximately 67,193 hectares. It is a wetland of international significance, providing a crucial over-wintering habitat and part of the East Asian–Australasian Flyway for migratory wader birds.

Critical Habitat

The two Ninety Mile Beach RAMSAR Sites are a critical habitat for numerous shorebirds that also supports internationally significant numbers of migratory species like the Bar-tailed Godwit, Red-necked Stint, Curlew Sandpiper and Eastern Curlew. Many travelling the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. Key residents include Hooded Plovers, Pied Oystercatchers and Caspian & Fairy Terns. They utilize the vast mudflats, mangrove forests and barrier islands for feeding and breeding for resident birds.

Turbine Threat to Birds

Offshore wind farms pose several threats to migrating birds and other creatures, which are primarily through direct collisions and the displacement of animals from vital and critical habitats. They also create a masive "barrier effect" that can cause behavioral changes, leading to traditional migration routes and or flyways being avoided or abandond.

Collision

Direct Collision happens when birds and bats are physically struck by turbine blades.Bird collisions with wind turbines are a risk caused by factors like the "motion smear" of spinning blades. Turbine blades may appear to be spinning slowly, but that is just an optical illlusion.Tip speeds tip speed for a 15 MW wind turbine is 95 metres per second, which is approximately 342 km/h (212 mph).

Barotrauma

Wind turbines kill hundreds of thousands of bats annually in North America alone, with global figures reaching millions. While direct collisions (blunt force trauma) with fast-moving blades are the primary cause, turbulence and rapid air pressure changes may also contribute to fatalities via internal organ damage, a phenomenon known as barotrauma.

Displacement

Bird displacement from wind farms occurs when birds avoid areas within and around wind farms due to disturbance, resulting in functional habitat loss. This effect, along with collision mortality and the "barrier effect" on migration routes, is a key concern for avian conservation. Habitat loss is the first step down the road to extinction for many animal species.

Turbine Evolution

The IEA 15-Megawatt Offshore Reference Wind Turbine is a standardized, open-source wind turbine design model created for research and development purposes. This is the unit used in the goverment's propaganda and the mock visualisations. Typical wind-farms use up to 8MW turbines, but the units bound for Australian projects are twice the size of the ones overseas.

Propprosed Renewable Energy Zones

No thought or consideration was ever given to the environment or existing users of an area in the governments flawed selection process for all six offshore Renewable Energy Zones.
If no one complained the REZ would have been much larger as the grey parts show in the image below, which are classed as "suspended areas", which is a big win for the people and the environment. The biggest win was the SOUTHERN OCEAN REZ (2), with the 80% reduction in the prosed site. The GIPPSLAND REZ (4) also had a big win with approx a third or more removed. BASS STRAIT REZ has a modest reduction, but 74 % of submissions raised concerns relating to environmental impacts. The most common concern related to potential collisions risks for migratory birds and noise impacts upon whales. The negative impact on the environmet is top of the list of concerns for all six offshore Renewable Energy Zones.