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Wetlands

The Location and Extent of Wetlands in NSW

Wetlands occur in all regions of NSW, from the coast to the arid west. The following map shows the location and extent of wetlands in NSW.

There are approximately 4.5 million hectares of wetlands in NSW. This equates to approximately 6 % of the state's geographical area. Ninety-eight percent of these wetlands are located in inland NSW, west of the Great Dividing Range. Noteworthy inland wetlands are in the Lachlan River Basin (400 000 ha of wetlands), the Lower Darling River (269 000 ha of wetlands) and the Paroo and Warrego Rivers (678 000 ha of wetlands) (Department of Water Resources, 1988; King and Green, 1993).

Approximately 90 000 ha of coastal wetlands have been identified in the State Environmental Planning Policy 14 (SEPP 14, excluding Sydney or significantly altered wetlands). Ninety percent of the coastal wetlands, which have been mapped, occur north of Sydney. Major wetland areas include the Macleay, Clarence, the Hunter and Tweed floodplains, the Hawkesbury Estuary, Port Stephens Estuary, the Manning River floodplain, and the Wallis Lakes system (State Wetland Action Group, 2000). Most wetlands in NSW occur on private land (SWAG, 2000).

The National Parks and Wildlife Service have recently mapped all wetlands in NSW using a standard methodology. Further information on this project, as well as a copy of the final report, can be found at: www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/