Polytelis anthopeplus -Wyperfeld National Park -Australia-8

Banrock Station Wetland Complex is a

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

complex located in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

which has been recognised as being of international importance by designation under the

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on We ...

. It was listed on 21 October 2002 as Ramsar site 1221. It lies in the

Riverland The Riverland is a region of South Australia. It covers an area of along the Murray River, River Murray from where it flows into South Australia from New South Wales and Victoria (Australia), Victoria downstream to Blanchetown, South Australia ...

region of south-eastern South Australia and is adjacent to the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray; Ngarrindjeri language, Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta language, Yorta Yorta: ''Dhungala'' or ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is List of rivers of Australia, Aust ...

. It is a

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

wetland subject to an ongoing

environmental restoration Ecological restoration, or ecosystem restoration, is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, destroyed or transformed. It is distinct from conservation in that it attempts to retroactively repair ...

program by a commercial organisation which manages the wetlands and promotes ecologically

sustainable Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

land use practices. In 2002 Banrock Station Wines received the Ramsar Wetland Conservation Award in recognition of its conservation efforts.Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention, 2002.

History

In 1952 Peter and Mavis (May) Jackson bought Peter's father, Bill Jackson's property, Banrock near Kingston on Murray. The property had many kilometres of frontage on to the River Murray, but since the installation of a downstream lock in 1923, much of its shore line had been flooded and degraded. They were mainly sheep and cattle farmers and were among the first people to plant wine grapes in the Riverland — planting Grenache, Doradillos and Gordos in the late 1950s. They sold Banrock in 1973 to Mr Langdon of Adelaide who onsold it later when it was used as a potato farm. BRL Hardy bought Banrock in 1994 Banrock Station is a largely

viticultural Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ...

property owned by, and producing wine for,

Accolade Wines Accolade Wines is an international wine business with its headquarters in South Australia and corporate offices in Melbourne. It has been owned by the Carlyle Group, an American private equity company, from 2018 until 2025 when the business merg ...

, the former Hardy Wine Company. The wetlands on the property had been permanently flooded since the early 20th century. In 1992 a program began to restore the natural hydrological regime of alternate wetting and drying cycles that the wetlands had before locks and

weir A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

s were installed on the Murray, with the first major drying out taking place in 2007.

Flora and fauna

The 1,375-ha wetland comprises a lagoon with associated swamp vegetation. It supports several regionally or nationally

threatened A threatened species is any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which is vulnerable to extinction in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensatio ...

animals, including the southern bell frog,

regent parrot The regent parrot or rock pebbler (''Polytelis anthopeplus'') is a bird found in southern Australia. It has predominantly yellow plumage with a green tail. The bird is found primarily in eucalyptus groves and other wooded areas of subtropical ...

and

river snail Summary Viviparidae, commonly called river snails or mystery snails, are a family of freshwater snails with gills and a protective lid (operculum). Recent studies show that their family tree is messier than expected, with genetic evidence sugg ...

. It provides habitat seasonally for several species of migratory waterbirds. It offers a route for

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

migrating around Lock 3 on the Murray during spring floods and provides

spawning Spawn is the Egg cell, eggs and Spermatozoa, sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of freely releasing eggs and sperm into a body of water (fresh or marine); the physical act is ...

and nursery habitats for them. Potential threats to the wetlands include invasion by introduced species and rising

saline Saline may refer to: Salt-related * Saline (medicine), a liquid with salt content to match the human body * Saline water, non-medicinal salt water * Saline, a historical term (especially American) for a salt works or saltern Places United States ...

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

References

Notes

Sources

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External links

Banrock Station Wetland Complex webpage on protected planet

Banrock StationBanrock Station floods its internationally significant wetland 04 September 2013
Wetlands of South Australia Ramsar sites in Australia DIWA-listed wetlands Murray River Ecological restoration Riverland {{SouthAustralia-geo-stub