Did you know that small bodies of water in Australia’s cities, like ponds or retention basins, play a crucial role in the environment? These urban wetlands are vital for supporting clean water, healthy ecosystems, and even bird migration. However, urban wetlands are often highly modified or constructed bodies of water, and are therefore seen as less “valuable” from an urban planning lens in terms of biodiversity conservation and ecosystem outcomes.
In a partnership between the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), the Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network (AURIN), BirdLife Australia and Federation University, a tool was created to raise awareness of the importance of wetlands in urban environments. The team used open-source citizen-science data to quantify the values of urban wetlands across Victoria, including those that have previously been overlooked. This information was collated into a publicly available online mapping tool, ‘Valuing Urban Wetlands’.
The online tool
The tool integrates waterbird and landscape data through an online portal called ‘Valuing Urban Wetlands.’ Waterbird data collected through citizen science and professional science was accessed via the ALA, BirdLife Australia and eBird and overlayed with open landscape data to create metrics for assessing wetland health and importance. The tool focuses on the Greater Melbourne region, but the methodology can be applied to other regions in the future