Creery Wetlands

Statement of Significance

• Primary feeding ground for water birds and important breeding grounds for migratory birds.
• Protection of wetlands a result of community and Council involvement in development processes.

Physical Description

The wetlands contain 13 per cent of the tidal samphire wetland in the Peel Harvey Estuary. It is managed by the Department of Parks and Wildlife.

History

The Creery Wetlands are remnants of a once extensive wetlands system which supported the Aboriginal way of life. The area contains many Aboriginal sites including a mass grave of local Aboriginals who died from disease (probably measles) in the 1860s.
The wetlands in the Mandurah region are extremely diversified and range from those of international importance to those that have been severely modified. Wetlands provide the community with opportunities for recreation, education and nature study, and also contribute to amenity through views, landscape and nature interaction.
The Creery Wetlands provide a unique and vital habitat for local fauna and flora, but land uses in the Mandurah region have reduced the quality and number of wetlands on the Swan Coastal Plain, with two thirds of the wetlands destroyed or degraded due to human activity and development. Native animals depend on permanent water to survive summer drought, and the wetlands plant communities provide a range of habitats for aquatic and terrestrial fauna. Creery’s fringe vegetation of tuart, jarrah and redgum is particularly important for stabilising and aerating the soil and for filtering material passing into the wetland. It also serves as a buffer between adjacent residential development.
The Creery Wetlands are the primary feeding ground in the Peel-Harvey Region for the largest population of water birds in South-Western Australia. Australia is a signatory to the Ramsar Convention (1971), which obliges it to conserve wetlands and waterfowls within its territory by establishing nature reserves in wetlands and managing them effectively. The wetlands are very important breeding grounds for migratory birds and are subject to several international agreements.
A number of threatened fauna exist in the wetlands, including the southern brown bandicoot, the western native cat, the red eared firetail, the black bittern and the freckled duck.
The Creery Wetlands are remnants of a once extensive system which supported the Aboriginal way of life. The area contains many Aboriginal sites of both ethnographic and archaeological significance, and is inextricably linked with the preservation of the cultural and spiritual values and beliefs of Aboriginal people. The wetlands also contain a mass grave of local Aboriginals who died from disease (probably measles) in the 1860s. Area C is listed in the System 6 Red Book and it contains 13% of the tidal samphire wetland in the Peel-Harvey Estuary.

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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Last Update

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This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.