Blog: 36th Annual Waterbird Survey

UNSW's Richard Kingsford, from the Centre for Ecosystem Science (CES), is part of the aerial survey team currently undertaking the 36th annual waterbird survey of eastern Australia.

The survey is covering all major wetland sites in the Murray-Darling Basin and other sites in the Riverina, and the project is supported by all eastern State conservation agencies and the Murray-Darling Basin Authority. 

Aerial surveying of waterbirds provides one the few quantitative, large scale biodiversity datasets that can monitor changes in the distribution and abundance of 50 waterbird species, including threatened species, and the health of rivers and wetlands. The survey is a powerful tool to observe changes in Ramsar wetland condition as well as other global and international conservation agreements. The survey can also detect potential long term changes through implementation of the Basin Plan.

To follow the aerial survey team's progress and discover what they have seen and learnt so far, you can follow the Waterbird Survey Blog on the CES website.

Image: Prof Richard Kingsford, Director, UNSW Centre for Ecosystem Science