Lakes Entrance Sand Management, Environment Protection, Sand Dredging, Tide Information, Dredging Pump Sand, Coastal Environment & Coastal Protection, Gippsland

Environmental Management

Understanding the diverse coastal and marine environment around Lakes Entrance is a vital part of the LESMP.

The program aims to have minimal environmental impact.

Protected areas

The Gippsland Lakes are listed as a Ramsar wetland of international importance. They are considered of national environmental significance under the Commonwealth Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands was signed in Ramsar, Iran in 1971. It is an intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.

The 60,000 hectare Gippsland Lakes Ramsar site includes Lake Wellington System, Lake Victoria, Lake King system, Lake Bunga, Lake Tyers and McLeods Morass.

The site meets the following criteria as a 'wetland of international importance':

It is a particularly good representation of natural or near-natural wetland characteristics of the appropriate biogeographical region
It regularly supports 20,000 waterbirds
It regularly supports substantial numbers from particular groups of waterfowl, indicative of wetland values, productivity or diversity
It regularly supports one per cent of individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of waterfowl.

The area within a two kilometre radius of Lakes Entrance has the following categories of species listed in the Commonwealth database:

35 threatened species
63 marine species
36 migratory species
12 whales and other cetaceans such as dolphins and seals.

Most of the Boole Poole Peninsula falls within the Gippsland Lakes Coastal Park and is protected under the Victorian National Parks Act 1975.

View the Statutory Approvals Table to see the approvals required for the program.

Gippsland Lakes coastal birds

Many hundreds of shorebirds and seabirds can be seen in the Gippsland Lakes system on any given day.

Of particular interest and concern in the Lakes Entrance area are three threatened species. These species have been recorded nesting on the south-eastern end of Rigby Island, just inside the Entrance:

Fairy Tern, Sterna nereis (Endangered)
Little Tern, Sterna albifrons (Vulnerable)
Hooded Plover, Thinornis rubricollis (Vulnerable).

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Hooded Plovers

Gippsland Ports is working closely with the Department of Sustainability and Environment and Parks Victoria to make sure that dredging and sand movement does not disturb local bird populations.

In some years about 200 pairs of Little Tern have nested in East Gippsland, including Rigby Island. In recent years numbers of nesting Little Tern have significantly decreased.

A plan is being developed by Department of Sustainability and Environment, Parks Victoria and Gippsland Ports to undertake works on Rigby Island to enhance its attractiveness for nesting birds.

Heritage values around Lakes Entrance

As part of the LESMP, Gippsland Ports is undertaking assessments of Aboriginal and historic heritage values on land, and maritime values in the waterways.

Technical specialists have been engaged to report on cultural features of importance in all areas that may be affected by the proposed works including the Boole Poole Peninsula and Long Island, the inside channels, and the marine areas outside of the Entrance.

The New Works Historic Complex on Long Island and the Boole Poole Peninsula is an area listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. It is a site of major 19th century engineering achievements and was one of the biggest public works undertaken in Victoria at the time.

The area includes cottages, a jetty, remains of a pier, rail tracks, remains of a crane, a workshop and boatshed, a flagstaff, jetties and other relics and artefacts, as well as the entrance to Gippsland Lakes.

The LESMP aims not to disturb sites of cultural and historical significance in the area.