Campaigns

BirdLife Australia is a member of the LifeBlood Alliance, an alliance of groups advocating for a Murray Darling Basin Plan that will deliver a healthy and sustainable future for communities and ecosystems throughout the Basin.

The Murray–Darling Basin supports around 98 species of waterbirds, including many migratory shorebirds. It is one of the most important breeding areas for waterbirds in Australia. However, between 1983 and 2006, waterbird populations suffered a massive collapse in numbers, with total waterbird abundance falling by 80%.

This decline in waterbird populations has been linked to the ecological decline of major wetlands throughout the Murray-Darling Basin, in particular the large wetlands on the lower reaches of the Condamine-Balonne, Gwydir, Macquarie, Lachlan and Murrumbidgee Rivers.

The Australian Government has the opportunity and power to reinvigorate wetlands and rivers throughout the Murray-Darling Basin. However, the Proposed Basin Plan represents a lost opportunity. It proposes a sustainable diversion limit (SDL) of 2750 GL/year, putting short-term social and economic concerns ahead of the long-term health of the river and the communities it supports.

Recent modelling indicates that an SDL of 3200 GL/year, combined with the removal of some river constraints, will improve environmental outcomes in mid and high floodplain environments in the southern Basin.  Areas that would benefit include Gunbower-Perricoota-Koondrook forest and Riverland-Chowilla floodplain. This scenario would achieve 17 out of 18 environmental targets for the River Murray.

This is great news, but many important floodplain wetlands would still miss out.

It’s too early to say we have a Plan that will provide a lasting solution to the Basin’s environmental woes. BirdLife urges all members to call or write to their local MP, urging them to delay finalisation of the Basin Plan until we have explored the benefits of returning more water, at least 4,000 GL per year to return our rivers, wetlands and floodplains.

Add your voice to the call - Take action now

Many populations of albatrosses and petrels are decreasing, some at an alarming rate. Research from South Georgia reveals that three species of albatross nesting on the islands have declined at an alarming rate over the past 30 years and unless these declines can be halted or reversed, the islands' albatrosses could face extinction.

At South Georgia wandering albatrosses are decreasing at 2%/year (a decrease of over 30% since 1986), grey-headed albatrosses at 3%/year (over 31% since 1991) and black-browed albatrosses at nearly 4%/year (a 44% decrease since 1990). At the Falkland Islands, which is a strong hold for black-browed albatrosses, about 17,000 albatrosses are lost each year.

These decreases are unsustainable

Longline and trawl fishing operations are two of the main reasons for the decreases. Longline and trawl fisheries operate in most areas of the ocean where vulnerable seabird species range. When seabirds encounter fishing vessels they habitually follow them, being attracted by the offal and fish discards expelled into the sea as part of fishing operations. During line setting in longline fishing, when baited hooks are deployed, seabirds attack the baits, become hooked or entangled in the gear, dragged underwater and drown. In trawling operations, seabirds die when they collide with the warp cables (thick steel cables used to haul nets on board vessels), and when they become entangled in the trawl nets.

The Save the Albatross Campaign helps support the mitigation measures being instituted by the enthusiastic team trying to protect these threatened birds.

Download BirdLife International's Global Seabird Programme newsletter Sea Change below to learn more about efforts to Save the Albatross.

What can you do to help?

Donate to the Save the Albatross Campaign. Download the donation form below.