Threatened birds are killed and precious beaches remain at risk because of uncontrolled beach driving in South Australia. We know the actions that can save precious coastal wildlife from harm, we just need the Malinauskas Government to act before it’s too late.
Email SA Environment Minister Close and ask her to act and make SA beaches safe for all.
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Over the weekend of the 24th and 25th February 2024, a fledgling Hooded Plover was killed when hit by a car driving on the beach. The incident occurred between Encounter Marine Park and the recently declared Aldinga Washpool Conservation Park - a known breeding site for threatened ‘Hoodies,’ showing clearly that South Australia's current rules are failing to protect the birds and habitat that we know needs protecting most.
Two weeks prior, a 4XD tore through a colony of Endangered Fairy Terns, displacing 7-day old chicks. The tyre tracks came within two metres of nests, but even without fatal collisions, nesting disturbances often prove fatal later for beach-nesting birds. Subsequent surveys showed new tyre tracks around this precious breeding colony of threatened terns.
The sad reality is, these tragic deaths are not uncommon.
Every summer, hard-working volunteers and scientists, who do everything they can to protect and recover populations of threatened birds along the South Australian coast, are forced to report deaths, crushed birds, destroyed nests, and more. Years of hard-work and conservation successes can be undone in an instant, because we lack the beach driving reforms we need in the SA.
Nature in South Australia is in crisis, and the State’s iconic beaches and their precious wildlife remain at fatal risk from uncontrolled beach driving.
Join BirdLife Australia and Birds SA by calling on the SA Government to act!
Email the SA Environment Minister and ask her to take action to make SA beaches safe.
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Photo: Australian Fairy Tern by Sithi Sitharthan
