Vulnerability of the Gippsland Lakes Ramsar site and its catchment to bushfire and climate change

2022
Kirono D, Hopkins M, Melbourne-Thomas J, Biswas T, Dunlop M, Round V, Sheppard M, Joehnk K and Briggs P
Download
Front cover

Introduction

This report reviews the vulnerability of the Gippsland Lakes Ramsar site and its catchment to bushfire and other hazard-based impacts of climate change to guide effective responses to future extreme events. The project was funded as part of the Australian Government’s $200 million bushfire response in the wake of the 2012-20 bushfires.

The report reviews:

  • The impacts of the 2019-20 bushfires on the ecological character of the Gippsland Lakes Ramsar site (GLRS), focussing on water quality
  • current and future climate change, including sea-level rise and bushfire hazards over the GLRS region
  • the vulnerability of the GLRS and its catchment to climate change in general and to the indirect impacts of climate change on bushfire hazard, including a high-level review of current bushfire recovery activities and their contribution in maintaining the critical components, processes and services that underpin the ecological character of the GLRS; and
  • key knowledge and information gaps to inform short and long-term strategies to build the GLRS’ resilience to future bushfire and other climate-induced events.