Wetland restoration is an effective strategy to tackle water quality

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Dear Minister Tanya Plibersek,

I am writing to you to express my deep concern about the slow progress towards the water quality targets and why we need to include coastal wetland restoration as a major initiative in our water quality policies.

UNESCO in their draft decision to the World Heritage Committee have expressed their serious concern in the lack of progress currently being achieved in addressing water quality issues in the Great Barrier Reef. Failure to act, could result in the Reef being recommended for the in danger list.

Sediment and excess nutrient runoff from agricultural land is recognised as one of the most significant threats to the resilience of the Great Barrier Reef.

While Queensland’s strengthened Reef Protection Regulations (Reef regulations) are a significant step towards achieving the DIN water quality targets, a lack of compliance has hindered progress. Additionally, even if full compliance is met, the Reef regulations and practice change will not achieve the 60% Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen target.

If the government is going to have any chance of reaching the 2025 targets, additional approaches must be pursued that focus on the restoration of the coastal floodplain, specifically through landscape-scale treatment wetland remediation.

Treatment wetlands have proven to be an effective management strategy in improving water quality.  Recent research shows that 5% wetland area rehabilitation on a land parcel can lead to a 20 to 50% reduction in nitrogen inputs into the coastal zone.

Wetlands also provide carbon sequestration, biodiversity, threatened species and fish habitat, and aid in protection from storm surge, coastal erosion and other coastal hazards. To scale-up restoration initiatives, we need the Australian Government to immediately invest in wetland restoration.

The future of the government’s progress to achieve the water quality targets is in your hands. I urge you to consider how wetlands can be the key to ensuring a healthy Reef.

Thank you!

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Coastal wetlands have the ability to help tackle the two biggest threats to the reef:

climate change via their ability to capture and store carbon,
as well as protect our coastline from extreme weather events and combat deteriorating water quality by treating agricultural runoff.

Nutrient pollution from land-based runoff is the number one cause of poor water quality in our Reef. The primary source of this runoff is sugarcane farming – it is responsible for 78% of Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen (Nitrogen), which affects our waterways, inner and mid-shelf coral reefs and seagrasses.

The Australian and Queensland governments have set specific targets to reduce nitrogen pollution, however, it’s become clear that these targets will not be met from regulations and voluntary land practice change alone.

This is where wetlands come into play, as they can be an effective management strategy in improving water quality. Research shows that 5% wetland restoration of an area can lead to a 20 to 50% reduction in Nitrogen inputs into our coastal zone!

Add your name to send the federal Minister for the Environment an email on why we need to identify coastal wetland restoration as a major initiative in our water quality policies.

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