Overview

The Ramsar site includes popular areas for recreational activities such as sightseeing, bird watching, camping, walking, fishing, swimming, canoeing, sailing, water-skiing, picnicking and four-wheel driving. The South Australian Tourism Commission estimated the number of visitors to the Coorong National Park in 2008 at about 138,000 (DEH. 2010. Securing the future: A long-term plan for the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth. Department for Environment and Heritage, Adelaide, South Australia). There are also less tangible values important to both residents and visitors which are associated with the area's natural beauty with people holding a strong affinity with the site's aesthetics. Similarly there is also a perceived value in the area being listed as an "icon site" (MDBC. 2006. The Lower Lakes, Coorong and Murray Mouth Icon Site Environmental Management Plan 2006–2007. Murray–Darling Basin Commission, Canberra).

Tourism in the Fleurieu Peninsula region generates approximately $326 million a year and attracts about 652,000 overnight visitors during the year. The services sector, supporting tourism and primary production accounts for 8% of Gross Regional Product and 15% of all employment (DEH. 2010. Securing the future: A long-term plan for the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth. Department for Environment and Heritage, Adelaide, South Australia).

Although recreation and visitor use is recognised as an ecosystem service / benefit of the Ramsar site, there are aspects of some recreational activities that can also act as a threat to ecological character. The main visitor impacts are from fishing, boating and disturbance of waterbirds. There are approximately 1000 wet and dry berths in the region, with many more boats brought in on trailers. Recreational boating requires shore-based facilities such as marinas, ramps, jetties and car parks, all of which can degrade wetland habitat. Boats are also able to enter many areas not otherwise accessible by other means and introduce disturbance where previously none existed. Personal water craft (jet skis), with their high noise levels, high speed, erratic movement and shallow draft are also of concern, particular with regards to disturbance of waterbirds (DEH 2000).

The recreational impacts upon intertidal zones are more of a concern than any commercial exploitation (Brown, A.C., and McLachlan, A. 2002. Sandy shore ecosystems and the threats facing them: some predictions for the year 2025. Environmental Conservation 29: 62–77 and Fairweather, P.G. 2011b. Intertidal seashores. In The vulnerability of coastal and marine habitats in South Australia. Marine Parks, Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources South Australia. pp. 16–23) as these habitats are often the focus of heavy recreational activity (Fairweather 2011b). Off-road vehicles can compact sediments which in turn may impact bivalves such as Donax, Paphies or Katelysia (Schlacher et al. 2008 and Fairweather, P.G. 2011b. Intertidal seashores. In The vulnerability of coastal and marine habitats in South Australia. Marine Parks, Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources South Australia. pp. 16–23), although the impact on the Goolwa cockle is a knowledge gap for the Ramsar site.

Off-road vehicles are a significant threat to hooded plover breeding success along the beaches of the Younghusband Peninsula. Overall it was estimated that off-road vehicles had the potential to destroy nests at the rate of 81% during the incubation period, thus being a significant threat to the reproductive success of the species (Buick, A.M., and Paton, D.C. 1989. Impact of off-road vehicles on the nesting success of Hooded Plovers Charadrius rubricollis in the Coorong region of South Australia. Emu 89: 159–172.).

Further information about this threat will be able to be found in the Ecological Character Description.

Regulatory Context

Instruments relevant to the management of these specific recreational activities in the Coorong and Lakes wetland include:

Harbors and Navigation Act 1993 (SA)
Marine Parks Act 2007 (SA)
National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 (SA)
Coorong National Park Management Plan

Management Considerations

Specific objectives and goals relating to the South Australian Government's management of waterbirds in the site, in addition to key management strategies, triggers and actions, will be described in the site's renewed Ramsar Management Plan (to be completed in June 2017). However at a higher level, environmental objectives and targets relevant to the management of water resources and outcomes for the Coorong and Lakes are outlined within the Basin Plan and associated regulatory frameworks.

Management Themes