In August 2013, the Threatened Species Scientific Committee recommended to the then Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Water that the River Murray and associated wetlands, floodplains and groundwater systems, from the junction with the Darling River to the sea, and the Wetlands and inner floodplains of the Macquarie Marshes be added to the List of Threatened Ecological Communities under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). The listings become effective through a disallowable instrument.
The legislative instruments that included these ecological communities in the List of Threatened Ecological Communities were subsequently repealed in December 2013 and both ceased to be a listed threatened ecological community from that date. However, the status of the communities prior to the time of disallowance is unaffected – that is, the ecological communities must be considered to have been listed as a threatened ecological community under the EPBC Act from the date of commencement of the instrument to the time of disallowance.
The River Murray and associated wetlands, floodplains and groundwater systems, from the junction with the Darling River to the sea ecological community was listed as critically endangered from 10 August 2013 to 11 December 2013. The Wetlands and inner floodplains of the Macquarie Marshes ecological community was listed as critically endangered from 13 August 2013 to 11 December 2013. Both listings were disallowed on 11 December 2013, after which they no longer are a matter of National Environmental Significance under the EPBC Act.
The conservation advices for both ecological communities collated a substantial amount of useful information and remain key, useful resources about two of the most important aquatic ecosystems in the Murray Darling Basin, irrespective of the listing status. The Committee advices provide a comprehensive analysis of threats impacting the ecological communities and specify priority conservation actions that are a useful guide for decision making on environmental protection and management in the region, including implementation of the Basin Plan, environmental watering and natural resource management by communities and Government through programs such as National Landcare.
Each ecological community name links to its Species Profile and Threats Database (SPRAT) profile, where these documents, and other information, can be downloaded.