A special event will be hosted this weekend to highlight the significance of one of Ballarat's most prized wetlands.
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The event will be hosted in line with World Wetlands Day-hosted each February 2-to raise awareness of wetlands and their benefits and promote their conservation and wise use.
This year will mark 50 years to the day since the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance was signed in Ramsar, Iran in 1971.
Australia was one of the founding nations to sign the convention, with the aim to halt the global loss of important wetlands and to conserve those which remain through wise use and management.
There are currently 66 Ramsar wetlands - deemed to be rare or unique wetlands or those which are important for biological diversity-across Australia, covering about 8.3 million hectares.
Of these there are 12 in Victoria, with the Western District Lakes the closest to Ballarat- nine separate lakes consisting of more than 33,000 hectares- in the western volcanic plains region of Victoria.
The lakes, located near Colac, are home to nationally threatened aquatic plant species and provide habitat for a range of fish, water birds and invertebrates.
While Lake Wendouree is not a Ramsar site, it plays an important part in the Ballarat community and is considered to be significant in Australia.
Birdlife's Ballarat branch convener, Louise Humble, said wetlands were "just so important in the environment".
"It provides a lot of things to not only the wildlife and the plant life around the wetlands but there is human interaction and health [benefits] too."
Ms Humble said the latter became clear last year when restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus were in place and Lake Wendouree became an even more popular spot for daily exercise - not only benefiting physical health but mental health, too.
"There are so many benefits from having healthy wetlands so making sure that we can maintain healthy wetlands is important."
Ms Humble added that while some wetlands were difficult to access, Lake Wendouree was so easily accessible for everybody living in or visiting the region to walk around and see the abundant habitat and the wildlife living in it.
Lake Wendouree is home to dozens of bird species: from vulnerable species in Victoria such as the Musk Duck and endangered species such as the Freckled Duck or Blue Billed Duck to migratory birds which stopover on the mud islands from their journeys from the Arctic.
"We are really lucky that some of those species habitat Lake Wendouree," Ms Humble said.
To highlight the importance of our wetlands, Birdlife Ballarat will team up with the Golden City Paddle Steamer and its museum to conduct bird identification tours on Lake Wendouree this Sunday.
Birdlife Ballarat members will be on board to point out the birds on the lake, with participants to be able to view different birds and even behaviour from what is exhibited closer to the shoreline.
Travelling to the mud islands and through the reeds also provides a different perspective, with participants able to view the sheer number of bird species the lake supports, Ms Humble said.
Brochures will also be provided with more general information about birdlife and wetlands across Ballarat.
The tours, which will cost a small fee, will begin from 1pm at Pipers by the Lake.