Hunter Estuary Shorebird Protection Program
Watching a flock of Red-necked Avocet take to the sky from Stockton Sandspit and joining members of Hunter Bird Observers Club on a boating trip to count Golden Plover are all in a day’s work for WCA’s new Hunter Region Coordinator Louise Duff. Louise is coordinating a 2-year WCA project protecting shorebirds in the Hunter Estuary, funded by the NSW Environmental Trust. The project includes fox control and a program of on-ground works to enhance habitat for shorebirds. Education activities will raise awareness of shorebird conservation. Community bird and fox monitoring will contribute to the project’s evaluation. Hunter Bird Observers Club and Hunter Wetlands Centre have joined the project as community partners. WCA is working closely with the National Parks and Wildlife Service’s Newcastle Area office on the project, and the Hunter Central Rivers CMA’s Kooragang Wetland Rehabilitation Project is providing technical research and advice.
The Hunter Estuary is internationally recognised as the most significant site for migratory shorebirds in NSW. They use the complex mosaic of roosting and feeding habitats provided across these wetlands. Of the migratory shorebirds present at the Lower Hunter Wetlands Corridor, 38 of the 66 migratory species are listed under the Japan-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (JAMBA) and the China-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (CAMBA). These international migratory bird treaties play an important role in international efforts to conserve migratory birds of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway.
Considerable work by a range of community organisations and government agencies is being undertaken across the Hunter estuary to protect migratory shorebirds. WetlandCare Australia is pleased to be able to complement this work with additional resources that will support local stakeholders in implementing threat abatement and community based monitoring.
The Shorebird Protection Project is assisted by the NSW Government through its Environmental Trust. The program is part of WetlandCare Australia's Australian Wetland Biodiversity Program and delivers on our objectives to seek promote, protect and restore unique wetland flora, fauna and aquatic ecosystems.
For more information contact WCA’s Hunter Region Coordinator Louise Duff, email louiseduff@wetlandcare.comau or phone 02 49516466.
LATEST FROM THE SHOREBIRD PROTECTION PROGRAM:
Hunter Estuary Shorebird Seminar Presentations (February 2012)
Hunter Estuary Shorebird Seminar Promotion (October 2011)
The Bar-tailed Godwit; listed as an internationally recognised migratory shorebird. Photograph by Adam Gosling, WetlandCare Australia.
For more information please contact Louise Duff, Regional Coordinator - Hunter at WetlandCare Australia's Newcastle office on 0432 688775 or email louiseduff@wetlandcare.com.au.
Community Partners
