Lake Burley Griffin a national rarity

Serene scene: Lake Burley Griffin provides a haven for many species of bird. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Keep the hard-edged clutter away from Lake Burley Griffin and respect this designed urban lake as a national rarity.

These are the aims of Juliet Ramsay, who has nominated the lake for the National Heritage List.

"There is no other city lake in Australia that has such a central designed lake and landmark feature," says Ms Ramsay, who has a background in landscape architecture and heritage, and specialises in cultural landscapes.

Ms Ramsay's nomination is on behalf of Australian members of the International Scientific Committee on Cultural Landscapes, of which she is a member. The committee is a non-government organisation for cultural heritage professionals.

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The nomination captures the outstanding planning, engineering and landscaping that create Canberra's magnificent centrepiece.

The proposed heritage listing notes Walter Burley Griffin's knowledge of natural geography and appreciation of space in design. The Molonglo flood plain's natural terrain needed only a little help from the designer to transform it into outstanding ornamental waters, and change the gentle slopes of the foreshores into parklands.

Inspired by the great US landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted,Mr Griffin loved geography and botany.

"He gave to Australia a unique landscape vision to make a city where landscape features, low-level buildings and an abundance of spaces are the most significant features," Ms Ramsay writes.

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Lake Burley Griffin a national rarity