The North Victorian Wetlands, also known as the Kerang Wetlands, comprise an extensive series of over 100 freshwater, brackish and saline lakes and swamps on the floodplain of the Loddon River where it enters the Murray valley, in the vicinity of the town of Kerang, in northern Victoria, south-eastern Australia. They are important for a variety, and sometimes large numbers, of waterbirds.
Description
The wetlands lie about 300 km north-west of Melbourne. Many of them are regulated and linked to the regional irrigation system. Many are also affected by salinity caused by land clearance, agriculture and irrigation practices, resulting in raised levels of groundwater and highly saline watertables. Many of the lakes are used recreationally for sightseeing, hunting, fishing, boating, waterskiing and swimming; some are used for storing irrigation water, or for the disposal of saline water and sewage.[2]
A larger and overlapping subset of 22 wetlands, with a collective area of 94 km2, were recognised on 15 December 1982 as being of international importance when they were listed under the Ramsar Convention as Ramsar Site 265. The wetlands were so recognised because of their great importance to waterbirds, supporting large numbers of endemic and migratory species, and serving as a drought refuge, as well as supporting rare or vulnerable plant species.[4]