Toondah Harbour: Save the Bay

Building on Toondah Harbour Ramsar wetland is a problem

• The Toondah Harbour proposal will impact over 40 hectares of the Moreton Bay Ramsar Wetland and permanently destroy important migratory shorebird feeding habitat.
• Toondah Harbour  provides important feeding and roosting habitat for more than 40,000 EPBC-listed migratory shorebirds over the Australian summer.
• Eastern Curlew is one of the 22 priority species in the Federal Government’s new 10-year Threatened Species Action Plan. The destruction of their habitat for a private company’s gain is unacceptable.
• The population of critically endangered Eastern Curlews has declined by over 80% in the past 30 years, largely due to similar coastal development projects across their range.
• Eastern Curlew feeding habitat cannot be replaced or offset. The destruction of any of their feeding habitat will result in a net loss of habitat for the species and is thus a significant impact.

The Critically Endangered Eastern Curlew depends on Toondah Harbour

Moreton Bay, in which Toondah Harbour is located, is internationally significant for Eastern Curlew. These birds exclusively roost and feed in coastal environments. Based on BirdLife Australia’s historical counting data, Moreton Bay is the single most important site for Eastern Curlew in Australia, supporting up to 6.5% of the world’s population.

Over the past 30 years, the population of Eastern Curlew has declined by over 80%, resulting in their uplisting to Critically Endangered.

Sun setting over Toondah Harbour RAMSAR Wetland. Photographed by: Judy Leitch

Politicians have an obligation to protect Toondah Harbour

The Proposal area and the species that inhabit it are protected under numerous international conventions and agreements including:

• The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance
• The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals
• Bi-lateral migratory bird agreements with Japan (JAMBA), China (CAMBA) and the Republic of Korea (ROKAMBA).
• These agreements also afford the site and species protection under the EPBC Act 1999 as Matters of National Environmental Significance.
• If approved this development will set a dangerous precedent for future development proposals within the 66 Australian and 2,339 other globally Ramsar-listed wetlands.