Environmental Monitoring

Moreton Bay is recognised as a wetland of international significance under the Ramsar Convention.  Many of the shorebirds that visit the mudflats of Moreton Bay are migratory species protected by the Japan Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (JAMBA) and the China Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (CAMBA).

Since 1992 we have been monitoring the number of shorebirds that use the port.  In 2001 the Queensland Wader Study Group, in conjunction with our environment section, took over the monthly monitoring programme.  Monthly counts of birds using the reclamation areas, claypan adjacent to the port and the Visitors Centre lake, provide the basis of the monitoring programme.

The programme has established a significant long-term dataset of shorebirds, waterbirds and waterfowl that use the port.

Data collected over the past seven years has indicated:

• The numbers of shorebirds using the port (principally the reclamation areas) peak in summer.  Highest numbers occur in January and February with more than 10,000 birds recorded.
• Winter counts of migratory waders were about ¼ or 1/3 of those in summer.
• High numbers of terns (Little Terns, White-winged Terns and Caspian Terns) use the main bunds at the port.
• The number of shorebirds are highly variable year-to-year, but follow a strong annual seasonal pattern.

In recognition of the significance the port’s reclamation areas play in providing high-tide roost habitat, the Corporation has constructed a 12-ha shorebird roost on the south-eastern side of the port.

The roost was officially opened in November 2005.  It is the largest constructed shorebird roost in eastern Australia and provides for both conservation and education management of shorebirds.