The Swan Coastal Plain lies directly west of the Darling Scarp, which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. It has been estimated that 80 per cent of wetlands on the Swan Coastal Plain have been cleared, filled, drained or otherwise destroyed since European settlement. Only 15 per cent are considered to have retained sufficiently high conservation values to be classified as ‘conservation category’ wetlands. Urban encroachment, residential development, incompatible land use practices, industry, agriculture, drainage, pollution, runoff, weed invasion and climate change continue to represent significant threats to the majority of wetlands that remain.
Another significant threat to wetlands is a lack of awareness, on the part of landowners and the general community, of the presence of many seasonal wetland types and the high biodiversity value of these systems. Due to their seasonal nature many wetlands, particularly damplands and palusplains, are not commonly recognised as wetlands and consequently are not valued or managed for conservation. It is in fact due to their seasonality that these systems contain high plant species diversity and hence are biologically valuable. These wetlands are an integral part of the Swan Coastal Plain, and without immediate action to promote their protection, they will remain under direct threat from human disturbance.
Of the high conservation value wetlands that remain, approximately 50 per cent fall under private ownership. Many of these are not covered by any form of protective mechanisms such as the Bush Forever strategy. Wetlands on private land, including those covered by protective mechanisms, are under particular threat due to a lack of awareness by landowners of the value of these systems as well as a lack of knowledge and skills in wetland management. In order to improve the conservation and sustainable management of wetlands an essential step is to raise awareness of the presence of different wetland types as well as their values. It is also necessary to build community and landowner capacity to sustainably manage wetlands for the long-term through the provision of resources as well as the establishment of support links with local governments, state government agencies, non-government organisations and community groups.
