Tuggerah Lakes

They were found during the search for an escaped convict, Molly Morgan, who was thought to be living with the Aborigines to the north of the Hawkesbury River.

The lakes are also the main basin into which all the rivers and streams drain and they receive nutrients, chemicals and sediment from the entire area.

Sediments and nutrients have been discharging into the lakes system for thousands of years although the process has greatly accelerated with urban development.

[4] The lakes and their immediate surrounds, including the Munmorah State Conservation Area and most of the Wyrrabalong National Park, have been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because the shallow waters have extensive seagrass beds attracting large numbers of waterbirds, including 1% of the world populations of sharp-tailed sandpipers and chestnut teals.

The adjacent forests and woodlands provide habitat for endangered swift parrots and regent honeyeaters in the non-breeding season.