North Victorian Wetlands

The North Victorian Wetlands, also known as the Kerang Wetlands, comprise an extensive series of over 100 freshwater, brackish and saline lakes and swamps on the floodplain of the Loddon River where it enters the Murray valley, in the vicinity of the town of Kerang, in northern Victoria, south-eastern Australia. They are important for a variety, and sometimes large numbera, of waterbirds.DescriptionThe wetlands lie about 300 km north-west of Melbourne. Many of them are regulated and linked to the regional irrigation system. Many are also affected by salinity caused by land clearance, agriculture and irrigation practices, resulting in raised levels of groundwater and highly saline watertables. Many of the lakes are used recreationally for sightseeing, hunting, fishing, boating, waterskiing and swimming; some are used for storing irrigation water, or for the disposal of saline water and sewage.Important Bird AreaA subset of 12 wetlands with a collective area of 60 km2, defined as those which have recently supported significant numbers of birds, have been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA). They support populations of endangered Australasian bitterns and near threatened blue-billed ducks. They sometimes support over 1% of the world populations of freckled ducks, straw-necked ibises, black-fronted dotterels, banded stilts and red-necked avocets.