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Wetlands
Wetlands can be difficult to define, and this is generally due to the changing nature of wetlands and their boundaries.
Wetlands can however be defined as ‘areas that are wet for a long enough period such that the plants and animals living in them are adapted to, and often dependant on, living in wet conditions for at least part of their life cycle…The inundation determines the type and productivity of the soils and plant and animal communities.’
Wetlands are areas with permanent or temporary shallow open water, such as marshes, swamps, mangroves or even marine areas where the water is less than six metres deep at low tide. 96 per cent of the wetlands found in NSW are found inland, west of the Great Dividing Range.
There are many wetlands located within the Pittwater area such as the Careel Bay Wetlands and the Warriewood Wetlands.
These wetlands along with many found on private properties are vital for sustaining life on earth, they provide habitat and breeding grounds for wildlife, including some threatened such as the Regent Honeyeater, Swift Parrot, Red-Crowned Toadlet and the Giant Dragonfly.
Wetlands can also act as natural firebreaks, they purify water by trapping nutrients and sediments and provide protection from floods. Wetlands in NSW and the Pittwater are under threat, so much so that wetlands have been incorporated into the Councils ‘Development Control Plan,’ so as to guide development in a sustainable fashion.
Updated: 22 Dec 2011