regional waterway management planning (Figure 5). The Western Port Ramsar Site Management Plan will be renewed every seven years and is underpinned by a monitoring program that reports on the condition of the system with respect to change in ecological character and progress towards meeting RCTs. Figure : The adaptive management cycle of the Victorian Waterway Management Program, noting that this Ramsar management plan is a part of the regional waterway management planning process (adapted from Department of Environment and Primary Industries 2013). Condition monitoring Monitoring recommendations to assess progress towards RCTs and change in ecological character (i.e. evaluate critical components, processes and services against LAC) are provided in Table 9. Consistent with the principles of the Western Port Ramsar Site Management Plan, responsible agencies have been identified, as have links to existing, relevant programs. It should be noted that many of the existing programs have limited funding and timelines and a full assessment of ongoing monitoring against monitoring needs will be required as part of implementation planning. To this end DELWP has a current project assessing the monitoring needs across Victoria’s 11 Ramsar sites, which may provide additional information for implementation planning in Western Port. Table : Monitoring requirements for the Western Port Ramsar Site. Program Frequency Responsibility Linkages to existing programs / activities Water quality Monthly and event EPA Victoria Current water quality based Parks Victoria monitoring by EPA Melbourne Water Melbourne Water funded sediments in estuary mouths study Intertidal mud and sand flat Every five years DELWP None found extent Seagrass Mapping every five DELWP Parks Victoria benthic habitat years. Condition every mapping at French Island and two years Yaringa Marine Parks Melbourne Water Saltmarsh and mangrove Every ten years DELWP Boon et al (2011) mapped extent CMA saltmarsh communities Saltmarsh and mangrove Every five years DELWP Parks Victoria Marine Protected condition CMA Area monitoring programs Invertebrate diversity, Every two to five years DELWP Parks Victoria Marine Protected abundance Parks Victoria Area monitoring programs Shorebird abundance and Bi-annual DELWP Current: Shorebirds 2020 diversity (resident and migratory species) Monitoring of breeding for Annual DELWP Victorian Wader Studies Group beach nesting species Parks Victoria Native fish: abundance and Annual DELWP Parks Victoria Marine National trends Parks Monitoring Program Intervention monitoring Intervention monitoring assesses the effectiveness of management actions in achieving desirable or stated outcomes and is an important part of an adaptive management approach. While there is solid scientific
regional waterway management planning (Figure 5). The Western Port Ramsar Site Management Plan will be renewed every seven years and is underpinned by a monitoring program that reports on the condition of the system with respect to change in ecological character and progress towards meeting RCTs. Figure : The adaptive management cycle of the Victorian Waterway Management Program, noting that this Ramsar management plan is a part of the regional waterway management planning process (adapted from Department of Environment and Primary Industries 2013). Condition monitoring Monitoring recommendations to assess progress towards RCTs and change in ecological character (i.e. evaluate critical components, processes and services against LAC) are provided in Table 9. Consistent with the principles of the Western Port Ramsar Site Management Plan, responsible agencies have been identified, as have links to existing, relevant programs. It should be noted that many of the existing programs have limited funding and timelines and a full assessment of ongoing monitoring against monitoring needs will be required as part of implementation planning. To this end DELWP has a current project assessing the monitoring needs across Victoria’s 11 Ramsar sites, which may provide additional information for implementation planning in Western Port. Table : Monitoring requirements for the Western Port Ramsar Site. Program Frequency Responsibility Linkages to existing programs / activities Water quality Monthly and event based EPA Victoria Parks Victoria Melbourne Water Current water quality monitoring by EPA Melbourne Water funded sediments in estuary mouths study Intertidal mud and sand flat extent Every five years DELWP None found Seagrass Mapping every five years. Condition every two years DELWP Parks Victoria benthic habitat mapping at French Island and Yaringa Marine Parks Melbourne Water Saltmarsh and mangrove extent Every ten years DELWP CMA Boon et al (2011) mapped saltmarsh communities Saltmarsh and mangrove condition Every five years DELWP CMA Parks Victoria Marine Protected Area monitoring programs Invertebrate diversity, abundance Every two to five years DELWP Parks Victoria Parks Victoria Marine Protected Area monitoring programs Shorebird abundance and diversity (resident and migratory species) Bi-annual DELWP Current: Shorebirds 2020 Monitoring of breeding for beach nesting species Annual DELWP Parks Victoria Victorian Wader Studies Group Native fish: abundance and trends Annual DELWP Parks Victoria Marine National Parks Monitoring Program Intervention monitoring Intervention monitoring assesses the effectiveness of management actions in achieving desirable or stated outcomes and is an important part of an adaptive management approach. While there is solid scientific
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