Australia has sixty-six designated internationally important Ramsar wetland sites and many of them may be at risk of change to their ecological character associated with climate change and other stressors. Our Peel-Yalgorup Ramsar 482 site is no exception and as one of the largest and most diverse Ramsar-listed wetland systems in Australia, it is not surprising it has been selected as one of the few initial case study sites for the CSIRO-led project for climate-effective management for threatened species and protected places.

The National Environmental Science Program (NESP) is a long-term commitment by the Australian Government. The program funds environment and climate research. The NESP Climate Systems Hub is providing research to advance the understanding of Australia’s climate, its extremes and associated drivers, including the fundamental drivers of rainfall, drought and bushfires, and inform climate adaptation solutions for Australia.

The project will use a climate lens to develop improved decision-making processes for conservation. Long-term climate sets the future objective and informs adaptation choices, while short-term actions and climate variability (and extremes) influence how, and if, the future objective is met. The NESP team will build database of adaptation options for species and habitats and a ‘decision tree’ to help government and on-ground managers select likely options for long-term adaptation. A second component will support conservation managers to negotiate short and medium-term climate challenges on the pathway to the long-term future. The project will co-develop and test a set of regionally specific climate situational reports with stakeholders to provide short- and medium-term information to improve the effectiveness of on-ground interventions. (Refer to https://nesp2climate.com.au/research/climate-effective-management-for-threatened-species-and-protected-places/.)

In May 2023, Peel-Harvey Catchment Council and Department of Biodiversity and Attractions (DBCA) brought together key people from their organisations and the Department of Climate Change (DCCEEW), Energy and the Environment and Water, Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), BirdLife, Orthnological Technical Services (OTS), Murdoch University and the University of Western Australia (UWA), to contribute expertise and knowledge to a two day workshop facilitated by the NESP team.

The first day included a field trip to Lake Mealup, Lake McLarty and the Lake Clifton Thrombolites. Senior Elder Franklyn Nannup welcomed the project team and participants to Bindjareb Boodja and shared ‘…you have to take notice of living things, my mob did and as I keep saying, you know, it is good to have a lot of other tribes involved in trying to look after what we have got.…you got to have kaartijin, knowledge to know what you are talking about…all working together for the one cause. When I see a place of beauty and there is plenty of them, I want my future generations to see that beauty that I saw…we are only caretakers.’ The field trip provided context of local values and the challenges faced. Participants shared an overview of the existing climate change management interventions that have been implemented as well as research and planning that is underway to better understand climate change impacts on key systems and species and potential management and intervention options that are being considered.

A full day workshop proceeding the field trip focused on looking at the tools being developed by the NESP team and how these could be regionally tailored to assist stakeholders and land managers make decisions regarding implementing on-ground interventions with a climate change adaptation focus. We know we face challenges ahead with a drying climate, declining water flows and increased temperatures to name a few but through collaboration we can work together towards reducing the impact the changing conditions will have on our valued Ramsar 482 Peel-Yalgorup wetland system and species.

This project is supported with funding from the Australian Government under the National Environmental Science Program and Peel-Harvey Catchment Council through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

We acknowledge the Noongar people as Traditional Custodians of this land and pay our respects to all Elders past and present