Redlands Coast has 150km of Moreton Bay shoreline including the Southern Moreton Bay Islands and North Stradbroke Island.
Moreton Bay is a significant marine national park, home to extensive seagrass meadows, turtles, dugongs and whales, significant cultural heritage, abundant water-based recreation, along with commercial and recreational fishing.
The bay and creeks in the Redlands Coast include:
- 22 freshwater creeks
- 12 catchments
- Freshwater lakes (including perched lakes) and dams – more than 1,500 scattered across the Redlands
- Freshwater wetlands
- Natural drainage lines
- Moreton Bay – from Peel Island to Panakin Island
- Estuarine waters
- Marine/Coastal wetlands
- Intertidal mud and sand flats
- Foreshores and intertidal areas
- Exposed coast of North Stradbroke Island.
Economic, social and environmental values
Our bay and creeks have multiple values, including economic, social, cultural and environmental.
They are valued for drinking water supply (Tingalpa Creek, North Stradbroke Island), stock water and irrigating crops (farm dams).
Our waterways have biodiversity value, supporting abundant plant and animal life, providing a place of refuge during drought and connecting places in the landscape via waterway corridors.
Redlands Coast bay and creeks attract tourism to the region. Our bay and creeks along with adjoining parks and foreshores also provide for recreational or leisure activities for local residents and tourists, such as bush walking, trail bike riding, bird watching and plentiful water-based recreational activities (e.g. boating, fishing).
The diverse environmental assets, cultural significance and natural beauty of the region highlight the city as a modern, liveable city.
Ramsar wetlands
Large areas of Moreton Bay and surrounding wetlands form part of an internally significant Ramsar wetland. The Moreton Bay Ramsar site is extremely varied, ranging from perched freshwater lakes and sedge swamps on the offshore sand islands, to intertidal mudflats, marshes, sandflats, coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangroves next to the Bay’s islands and the mainland.
This Ramsar site is notable for its large size, diversity of wetland habitats, connectivity between wetland types, as well as diverse flora and fauna that includes threatened species and ecological communities.
The site supports migratory waterbirds and other fauna of conservation significance such as such as the humpback whale, Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin, Dugong, Green turtle, Loggerhead turtle and Hawksbill turtle also occur. It also provides nursery conditions for commercially significant fish and crustaceans.
Ramsar wetlands are a matter of international, national and local importance that are protected under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).
The Moreton Bay Ramsar sites and the values it support are cared for by federal, state and local governments working together with natural resource management groups, private industry, Traditional Owners, landholders and the community.
Learn more about the Moreton Bay Ramsar wetland.