The Murray–Darling Basin supports around 98 species of waterbirds, including many migratory shorebirds. It is one of the most important breeding areas for waterbirds in Australia. However, since 1983, waterbird abundance in the basin has declined by 80%.
Upon reading the draft Basin Plan released today, Birds Australia’s conservation manager, Samantha Vine, fears this precipitous decline will continue.
“Birds Australia is extremely concerned that the proposed plan will do little to address critical water shortages, and implement the reforms necessary to ensure the survival of millions of birds that rely on the river system”, said Samantha.
“Firstly, by the time the reductions outlined by the Plan are enforced in 2019, it is likely to be too late for many of the 35 bird species in the basin already threatened with extinction”.
Birds Australia's own research suggests that the critically endangered Orange Bellied Parrot’s habitat has been lost in coastal wetlands in South Australia because of changed hydrological regimes. A direct result of over extraction, hypersaline conditions have killed off large areas of saltmarsh that the Orange-bellied Parrot relies on as a food source.
Similarly, in the middle reaches of the Murray, the persistence of two nationally threatened parrots, the Superb and Regent Parrot, is inextricably
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