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This data set describes the official boundaries of the nine wetland areas initially proposed in February 1990 by the Government of Western Australia for listing as Wetlands of International Importance under the Convention on Wetlands of Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat, otherwise known as the Ramsar Convention. The nine areas are the Ord River Floodplain, Lakes Argyle & Kununurra, Roebuck Bay, Eighty Mile Beach, Forrestdale & Thomsons Lakes, Peel-Yalgorup System, Toolibin Lake, Vasse-Wonnerup System and Lake Warden System. These nine sites were added to the Ramsar Convention official List of Wetlands of International Importance in June 1990. The February 1990 nomination document was prepared by the Western Australian Department of Conservation & Land Management (DCLM) on behalf of the State Government. The document included a number of A4 maps indicating the approximate boundaries of the nine Ramsar sites. During 1999 and 2000 DCLM has prepared a set of digitised maps of the nine Ramsar sites. These maps which also include basic cadastral and topographic information and area statements form the current data set. They describe the boundaries and areas of the sites more accurately than did the A4 maps and nomination text. These digitised maps are the new official maps for WA existing Ramsar sites. An additional three sites were added to the Ramsar Convention official List of Wetlands of International Importance in February 2001. These sites are Becher Point Wetlands, Lake Gore and Lake Muir-Byenup Lagoon. In late 2006 an additional six sites were proposed. These sites are Ellenbrook, Fortescue Marshes, Lake Ballard, Lake Gregory, Millstream Pools, Spearwood Creek. The Fortescue Marshes boundary was altered in late 2009 in order to more accurately align with the Important Wetlands dataset. Also in late 2009 an additional site, Lake Mcleod, was proposed. |