Fivebough and Tuckerbil Wetlands Trust

Murrumbidgee Wetlands Forum 2006

22nd- 24th November 2006

Practical Management in an Altered Environment

Download the Murrumbidgee Wetlands Forum 2006 Proceedings (Acrobat PDF, 58.5 MB)

“Wetlands of the Murrumbidgee River Catchment:
Practical Management in an Altered Environment”
Wednesday 22nd

    Pre- Murrumbidgee Wetlands Forum tour of Lower Murrumbidgee Wetlands
    Murrumbidgee River floodplain wetlands, Barren Box Swamp, Tuckerbil Swamp, and Fivebough Swamp
    Wednesday evening 5.30pm to 7.30pm
    Wetlands Forum Registration and Reception at Fivebough Wetlands
    Venue: Budyaan Baamirra Centre, Fivebough Wetlands
    Enter via Petersham Road carpark
    Thursday 23rd and Friday 24th
    Murrumbidgee Wetlands Forum Venue: Leeton Soldiers Club, Auditorium
    Cnr Yanco Avenue and Acacia Avenue

8.00am Registrations

8.40am Introductions

Mr. Dick Thompson, Chairman Murrumbidgee Irrigation.

8.45am Welcome to Wiradjuri Country

William and Anne-Marie Ingram, Wiradjuri

9.00am Opening of Murrumbidgee Wetlands Forum

The Honourable Ms Kay Hull MP, Federal member for the Riverina

Sessions Day 1.

9.20am Wetlands of the Murrumbidgee and their management issues

Session Chair Mr. Phil Green

    Dr. Patricia Murray Murrumbidgee Catchment Management Authority:
    Wetlands of the Murrumbidgee River Catchment.
    Dr. Rodger Good:
    Wetlands of the Snowy Mountains - their ecological rehabilitation and management.
    Mr. Marcus Wright Murrumbidgee Catchment Management Authority:
    Environmental Water Management in the Regulated Murrumbidgee.

10.50am Morning Tea
11.10am Historical Perspective of Wetlands

Session Chair Mr. Bruce Gray

    Ms. Fiona Little University of Adelaide:
    Long Term Water Quality Changes in Murrumbidgee Floodplain Wetlands Revealed by Fossil Diatom Assemblages.
    Mr. Jimmy Ingram Nurrungadera Wiradjuri elder:
    Murrumbidgee Wetlands and Wiradjrui People.
    Professor David Mitchell Charles Sturt University:
    Chain of pond wetlands - Natural Sequence Farming
    12.30pm Lunch

1.30pm Wetland Rehabilitation Management

    Session Chair Ms Tracey Valenzisi
    Mr. Rob Kelly Murrumbidgee Irrigation:
    Large Scale Water Conservation and Wetland Rehabilitation - Barren Box Swamp Project.
    Mr. Mike Schultz Fivebough and Tuckerbil Wetlands Trust:
    Managing Wetlands of International Importance: Fivebough and Tuckerbil Swamps, southern New South Wales, Australia.
    Mr. Ross McDonnell New South Wales Department of Environment and Conservation:
    Yanga National Park managing Murrumbidgee floodplain wetlands.

3.00pm Afternoon Tea
3.20pm Management and Community

Session Chair Mr. Marcus Wright

    Mr. Richard Hunter Bird Observers Club of Australia (BOCA):
    BOCA INTO THE FUTURE - The next hundred years.
    Dr. Robyn Molsher New South Wales Department of Environment and Conservation: NSW Ramsar Managers Network-Government and landholders working together.

5.00pm Close of Day One
7.00pm MurrumbidgeeWetlands Forum Dinner ‘Taste of Leeton’

    Venue: MIA Sports Club, Racecourse Road, Leeton

Mr. Lee O’Brien, Chairman Murrumbidgee Catchment Management Authority
CELEBRITY LECTURE

    Mr. Sean Dooley Comedian, Author ‘The Big Twitch’, Author, and Conservationist.

Sessions Day 2.

9.00am Managing Wetlands for Vegetation

Session Chair Ms. Sally Hunt

    Dr. Anne Jensen University of Adelaide:
    The Secret Life of Lignum Muehlenbeckia florulenta (Polygonaceae): little known plant of the floodplains.
    Dr. Daryl Nielsen Murray-Darling Freshwater Ecology:
    Wetland Salinity: Predicting the ecological consequences.
    Conservation of Brolgas in Southern Australia.
    10.30am Morning Tea

10.50am Managing Wetlands for Birds
Session Chair Dr. Laurie Lewin

    A review of European bittern Botaurus stellaris research techniques and results: their potential application to Australasian bittern Botaurus poiciloptilus ecology and conservation.
    Dr. Iain Taylor Charles Sturt University:
    The foraging ecology of wading birds (Ciconiiformes) in rice fields in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, south-east Australia.

12.20pm Lunch
1.20pm Managing Wetlands for Birds
Session Chair Ms Claudia Nye

    A Baseline Study of Terrestrial Bird Populations in the State Forests of the Southern Riverina: 1999-2003.
    Mr. Geoff Larmour Commonwealth Department of Environment and Heritage:
    An Overview of Australian Government activities to Conserve Migratory Shorebirds in the East Asian- Australasian Flyway.

2.20pm Afternoon Tea
2.40pm Managing for Fish and Amphibians

Session Chair Dr. Patricia Murray

    Dr. Dean Gilligan New South Wales Department of Primary Industries - Fisheries:
    Native Fish in the Murrumbidgee
    Dr. Robyn Watts Charles Sturt University:
    Fish communities in floodplain wetlands of the mid-Murrumbidgee river.
    Frog communities of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, New South Wales.

4.10pm Wetland Forum summary.

Dr. Iain Taylor Charles Sturt University