Question On Notice No. 1204 asked in the Legislative Council on 1 December 2022 by Hon Dr Brad Pettitt
Question Directed to the: Minister for Emergency Services representing the Minister for Environment
Parliament: 41 Session: 1
Question
I
refer to the Minister’s responses to questions on notice 889 and 1081 and note that the
Government does not appear to have up to date data regarding wetland loss in
Western Australia, and I ask:
(a) what steps are being taken to obtain up to date
data on wetland loss in Western Australia to guide planning and decision making;
(b) why has this data not been collected and updated
regularly since Western Australia abandoned State of the Environment reporting in 2007;
(c) will the Minister request the Wetlands Coordinating
Committee to prepare annual reports on the status of Western Australian wetlands to guide
planning and decision making about conservation priorities and actions; and
(d) if no to question (c), why not?
Answered on 14 February 2023
(a) The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions is working with the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation to update wetland mapping for the Swan Coastal Plain, parts of the Southwest and southern portions of the Midwest.
(b) Data on wetlands is held in various forms and is available to guide planning and decision-making. The wetland loss statistics in the 2007 State of Environment Report focused on the Swan Coastal Plain. The ‘Geomorphic Wetlands, Swan Coastal Plain’ spatial dataset was originally digitised from wetland mapping published in 1995, and it is updated on an ongoing basis when site investigations are undertaken.
(c) No.
(d) Information to guide planning and decision-making on conservation actions and priorities is obtained for specific wetlands based on the best available information and may include held data and site-specific environmental surveys and investigations.