Long-term monitoring of waterbirds in the Coorong and Lower Lakes in South Australia is undertaken by the University of Adelaide and forms part of the annual waterbird census in the Lower Lakes, Coorong and the Murray Mouth (LLCMM) region. Waterbird monitoring in the Coorong commenced in 2000, and it expanded in 2009 to include the Lower Lakes.
The LLCMM region is a Ramsar-listed wetland of international importance for migratory waterbirds. It is also one of the icon sites under The Living Murray program. The condition of the LLCMM region, and waterbird recruitment and populations, have been identified as targets against which to assess progress towards achieving the objectives of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. The waterbird census data and findings form part of the ecological information used for this assessment.
The 2016-17 monitoring program was funded by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA). Between 2000 and 2016, the MDBA, South Australia’s Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR), Nature Foundation South Australia, Earthwatch Australia and the University of Adelaide funded the monitoring program in different years.
The MDBA has made the waterbird databases and related resources publicly available on data.gov.au as part of its commitment to the Australian Government policy on public data and information. The terms and conditions for using the data and related resources from this website can be found at https://www.data.gov.au/about.