Australian Wetlands Database

Ramsar wetlands

Shoalwater and Corio Bays Area (Shoalwater Bay Training Area, in part - Corio Bay)

Overview

Key facts and figures:
Date of listing:	11 March 1996	The intertidal area of Corio Bay, Photo: M. O'Brien
Australian Ramsar site number:	44
Criteria:	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
State/Territory:	Queensland
Area:	Total area: approximately 239 100 hectares Intertidal area: 25 900 hectares. (Broome Head, SWBTA and Corio Bay).
Drainage Division or IMCRA region:	North-East Coast; Northeast Shelf Province
Wetland type:	A - Permanent shallow marine waters in most cases less than six metres deep at low tide; includes sea bays and straits B - Marine subtidal aquatic beds; includes kelp beds, sea-grass beds, tropical marine meadows D - Rocky marine shores; includes rocky offshore islands, sea cliffs E - Sand, shingle or pebble shores; includes sand bars, spits and sandy islets; includes dune systems and humid dune slacks F - Estuarine waters; permanent water of estuaries and estuarine systems of deltas G - Intertidal mud, sand or salt flats H - Intertidal marshes; includes salt marshes, salt meadows, saltings, raised salt marshes; includes tidal brackish and freshwater marshes I - Intertidal forested wetlands; includes mangrove swamps, nipah swamps and tidal freshwater swamp forests J - Coastal brackish/saline lagoons; brackish to saline lagoons with at least one relatively narrow connection to the sea
Key features of the site:
The Shoalwater and Corio Bays Area (Shoalwater Bay Training Area, in part - Corio Bay) Ramsar site is located about 50 km north of Rockhampton, Queensland. The majority of the site is set around Shoalwater Bay in the Shoalwater Bay Military Training Area (SWBTA) and includes adjacent lands and marine waters from Broome Head in the north to the southern boundary of the SWBTA. The other component of the site includes the intertidal areas of Corio Bay in the south. The area contains a wide diversity of landscape types including undulating lowlands and hills, riverine plains, swamps, estuarine inlets, old beach ridges, dunes, sand beaches flanked by coastal cliffs, and intertidal sand and mudflats. The wetland types on the site include freshwater lagoons, swamps and streams, leading into marine, estuarine and intertidal wetlands. The site is located in a zone where the temperate climate merges into tropical and sub-tropical climates. The climatic gradient, diversity of geomorphology and good condition of the site has resulted in a rich diversity of species. The site supports about 791 plant species and sub-species, 445 fish species, 22 frog species, 66 reptiles species, 226 birds species, 24 mammal species and 23 bat species. Nationally threatened species that occur at the site include the Green Turtle, Hawksbill Turtle, Flatback Turtle, Loggerhead Turtle, Honey Blue-eye fish and Oxleyan Pygmy Perch. Dozens of migratory bird species protected under international conservation agreements have been recorded at the site. The site has been identified as being of international importance to the migratory Eastern Curlew, Whimbrel and Great Knot. A range of other wetland birds and shorebirds feed and breed in the area. The Shoalwater Bay area has been gazetted as a Defence Practice Area under the Defence Act 1903, and is used primarily for defence activities. Corio Bay is part of Queensland's Byfield National Park used primarily for conservation and recreation activities. The area is part of the traditional lands of the Darumbal people. The dune fields contain archaeological sites including shell middens, scatters of stone tools and dinner camp sites.
Justification of the listing criteria:
The Shoalwater and Corio Bays Area (Shoalwater Bay Training Area, in part - Corio Bay) Ramsar site meets six of the nine criteria: Criterion 1: The Shoalwater and Corio Bays Area Ramsar site is in the North-east Coast Australian Drainage Division. It contains the largest area in central east Queensland of representative coastal, subcoastal and aquatic landscapes and ecosystems in a relatively undisturbed state. The area represents one of a very few large estuarine systems that retains a relatively undisturbed catchment. Criterion 2: The Shoalwater and Corio Bays Area Ramsar site supports populations of the threatened Green Turtle, Flatback Turtle and Hawksbill Turtle and the endangered Loggerhead Turtle. The site also supports the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 listed Dugong. Criterion 3: The Shoalwater and Corio Bays Area contain a high diversity of freshwater, marine and estuarine fish species, with 445 species recorded. Eighteen species of mangroves occur in the area. There are at least 10 species of seagrass present, with seagrass beds extending to depths of 20m due to water clarity. The site is of special value as habitat for endemic fish species. The mangrove, tidal mudflats and saltflats are important habitats for local and migratory shorebirds, including 26 species protected under international migratory bird conservation agreements. Criterion 4: This Ramsar site provides nesting sites for turtles and critical feeding areas for turtles and Dugongs. It also provides breeding sites for the Beach Stone-Curlew. Criterion 5: The Shoalwater and Corio Bays Area Ramsar site supports over 20,000 waterbirds in summer. Criterion 6: Six species of migratory shorebirds have been recorded in the Shoalwater and Corio Bays Area Ramsar site at numbers exceeding 1% of their population in the East Asian Australasian Flyway, including the Eastern Curlew, Whimbrel and Great Knot.
Please see the More Information page for additional information on this Ramsar site and access to the Ramsar Information sheets and other associated site documents.

More information

The Ramsar Convention encourages the development of three key documents for each Ramsar site: Ramsar Information Sheets - required at the time of nomination of a site to the List of Wetlands of International Importance, are to be updated every six years, or when there are significant changes in the site's ecological character. Ecological Character Descriptions - describe the ecological character of the site at the time of its listing as a wetland of international importance. Management Plans - used to formulate and implement planning so as to promote the wise use and conservation of wetlands. For more information about these documents see the Ramsar documents page. Along with the available site documents, additional information and resources on this Ramsar site are listed below. Please note that apart from the Ramsar Information Sheets, not all documents are currently available for every Australian Ramsar site.
Ramsar Information Sheet (RIS):	Shoalwater and Corio Bays Area (Shoalwater Bay Training Area, in part - Corio Bay) RIS - PDF \| RTF
Ecological Character Description (ECD):	An Ecological Character Description is currently being developed. Further information is available from wetlandsmail@environment.gov.au
Management Plan (MP):
Additional information provided to the Ramsar Secretariat:
Other information:	Reef Water Quality Protection Plan

Additional resources:
Australian Government (1994a). Commonwealth commission of inquiry, Shoalwater Bay, Capricornia Coast, Queensland - Final report, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra. Australian Government (1994b). Commonwealth commission of inquiry, Shoalwater Bay, Capricornia Coast, Queensland - Summary. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra. Australian Heritage Commission (1980). Shoalwater Bay Area. Register of the National Estate. Australian Heritage Commission (1993). Submission to the Commonwealth Commission of Inquiry, Shoalwater Bay, Capricornia Coast, Queensland. AHC, Canberra. Byron, G.T. and Hall, M. (1995). Mangrove alliances of the Shoalwater Bay Area. Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage. In prep. Childs, L. and Healy, R. (1995). Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland, Capricorn Branch. Commonwealth of Australia (1993) Shoalwater Bay military training area - resource assessment. Joint Commonwealth Report, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Geological Survey Organisation, Bureau of Resource Sciences, Canberra. Coles, R., Mellors, J., Bibby, J. and Squire, B. (1987). Seagrass beds and juvenile prawn nursery ground between Bowen and Water Park Point. Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Information Series No. Q187021. Commonwealth of Australia (1993). Shoalwater Bay military training area - resource assessment. Joint Commonwealth Report, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Geological Survey Organisation, Bureau of Resource Sciences, Canberra. Garnett, S. (ed) (1992). Threatened and extinct birds of Australia. RAOU report 82, Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, Canberra. Gunn, R.H., Galloway, R.W., Walker, J., Nix, H.A., McAlpine, J.R., and Richardson, D.P. (1972). Shoalwater Bay Area, Queensland. CSIRO Australia, Division of Land Research, Technical Memorandum 72/10. IUCN (1986). IUCN list of threatened animals. International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Gland, Switzerland. Marsh, H. and Saalfeld, W.K. (1990). The distribution and abundance of dugongs in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park south of Cape Bedford. Australian Wildlife Research 17: 511-524. Melzer, R.I., Barry, S.J. and Kershaw, N.H. (1994). Flora survey - Shoalwater Bay Military Training Area. Research report No. 8. Commonwealth Commission of Inquiry, Shoalwater Bay, Capricornia Coast, Queensland. Research reports No. 5, volume B. AGPS.O'Neill, P. (1995). Autumn waterbird and wader survey of Shoalwater Bay - excluding Canoe passage and islands. Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage, Central Coast Region. Personal communication (to be published). Schodde, R., Catling, P.C., Mason, I.J., Richards, G.C. and Wombey, J.C. (1992). The land vertebrate fauna of the Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland. Survey for the Department of Defence, Commonwealth of Australia, CSIRO. Stanton, J.P. (1975). A preliminary assessment of wetlands in Queensland. Technical Memorandum 75/10, Division of Land Use Research, CSIRO, Australia. Stanton, J.P. and Morgan, M.G. (1977). Project RAKES - a rapid appraisal of key and endangered sites. Report to the Department of Environment, Housing and Community Development. University of New England. Stokes, T. (1995). Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Thackway, R. and Cresswell, I. D. (1995). An interim biogeographic regionalisation for Australia: a framework for setting priorities in the national reserves system cooperative program. Version 4. Australian Nature Conservation Agency, Canberra. Thompson, C.H. (1981). Podsol chronosequences on coastal dunes in Eastern Australia. Nature, 291: 59-61. Thompson, C.H. (1983). Development and weathering of large parabolic dune systems along the sub-tropical coast of eastern Australia. Z. Geomorph. Suppl. 45: 205-225.