The Gippsland Lakes Ramsar Site was listed in 1982.
The Ramsar Site is located 300 kilometres from Melbourne, south of the Eastern Highlands and to the east of the La Trobe valley. Ninety Mile Beach lies to the south.
The Ramsar site consists of a series of lakes and fringing wetlands. It is the largest estuarine lagoon system in Australia.
The lakes are important for waterbirds, including migratory shorebirds, fish such as Black Bream (Acanthopagrus butcheri) and threatened species such as the nationally vulnerable Growling Grass Frog (Litoria raniformis).
The Ramsar site consists of the Gippsland Lakes National Park and public reserves, most of which are managed by Parks Victoria.
The waters of some of the lakes are managed by DEPI.
The West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority is responsible for catchment management in the western part of the region and East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority in the eastern part of the region.
Ramsar site documents
The Gippsland Lakes Ramsar Site Ecological Character Description and Gippsland Lakes Ramsar Information Sheet can be found by visiting the Australian Ramsar Wetlands page on the Australian Government Department of the Environment website.
Image: Sale Common (2011), Source: Y. Baker