The Peel Inlet-Harvey Estuarine System is about 75 km south of Perth and consists of two connected shallow basins - the Peel Inlet and Harvey Estuary. It includes the Peel-Yalgorup System Ramsar site.

The estuary is an internationally significant habitat for waterbirds and migratory wading birds. Tens of thousands of waterbirds gather each year with over 80 species recorded, of which 29 are listed on the Japan- Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (JAMBA) and the China-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (CAMBA). It is one of the few places in the world that supports living thrombolites in inland waters.

The system is also valuable culturally and as a commercial and recreational waterway with significant development in the tourism industry.

Fish and shellfish harvesting is a major recreational and commercial industry in the area.

• Peel-Yalgorup System Ramsar site information 
  (search for site number 36)
• Ecological Character Description 

The major problem in the rivers and estuary is an excess of phosphorus from rural and urban land use practices entering from the catchment and feeding the growth of algae,. Urban areas currently account for only 6% of the catchment, but contribute more than 20% of phosphorus. Unsewered urban areas have a big impact, contributing 17% of phosphorus in winter.

Along with Vasse-Wonnerup, population growth in the catchment is among the highest in the country. Due to its proximity to Perth, this growth is fuelling rapid urban and peri-urban expansion in the Mandurah area. Increased demands on the estuary have placed additional burdens on the system (for example, water extraction, spraying for mosquito control, agricultural production, foreshore development and access, boat use and moorings and jetties).

• Water Sensitive Urban Design and the Stormwater Management Manual 
• Draft Water Quality Improvement Plan 
• Ramsar Management Plan and Acid Sulfate Soil Investigations for Swan Coastal Plain are under development
• Ecological Character Description 
• Water Quality projects to protect the Ramsar site.
• Enhancement of Ecological Monitoring Programmes Peel Harvey estuary 

• Department of Environment and Conservation
• Environmental Protection Authority WA

The Vasse Geographe Catchment occupies an area of approximately 2000km² between Bunbury and Dunsborough Western Australia. The Vasse Geographe Catchment includes the Vasse-Wonnerup System Ramsar wetland.

High abundance (>20,000) and richness (>80 species) of waterbirds. >1% of populations of Blackwinged Stilt, Red necked Avocet, Australian Shelduck and Australasian Shoveler.

Largest known breeding colony of Black Swan in Western Australia (50 – 150 pairs)

The wetland also includes cultural and heritage values and parts of the wetland are used for summer grazing by cattle.

Geographe Bay values include significant recreational activities (contact, active), and fishing. Ecological values include highly diverse sponge, coral and invertebrate communities. Geographe Bay is soon to become a marine park.

• Vasse-Wonnerup System Ramsar site information 
  (search for site number 38)

Excessive algal blooms caused by high nutrients loads in the lower estuary channels have frequently resulted in sudden, mass fish deaths, mostly during the summer period. The principal cause of the deaths is thought to be temporary declines in dissolved oxygen concentrations due to night-time respiration of algal blooms. Blooms of macroalgae and phytoplankton also regularly occur.

The bulk of the land area in the catchment is utilised by nutrient-intensive agricultural industries, with dairy and beef grazing dominant and intensifying. The Vasse Wonnerup Wetlands and Geographe Bay also receive flow from nutrient-rich groundwater sources.

Population growth in the catchment is among the highest in the country. This growth is fuelling rapid urban expansion of the Busselton, Dunsborough and Capel town sites into surrounding agricultural areas. Recent surveys of urban nutrient use have demonstrated that nutrient loads from urban areas can be much greater than from agricultural grazing land due to the large quantities of fertilisers added to home gardens by urban householders.

• Draft Water Quality Improvement Plan under development 
• Water Quality projects to protect the Vasse-Wonnerup Ramsar site.
• Enhancement of Ecological Monitoring Programmes Vasse-Wonnerup Ramsar site
• Ecological Character Description of the Vasse-Wonnerup System Ramsar wetland

• Department of Planning and Infrastructure
• Swan River Trust
• Western Australian Local Government Association
• Department of Water WA
• Department of Environment and Conservation