The demise of the Lesser Sand Plover

A letter has just arrived from BirdLife highlighting the plight of the Lesser Sand Plover. The letter mentions habitat destruction, and I quote: The culprit could be a coal port, a casino or pollution. In the Top End (and I should think elsewhere) there is another threat. Lesser Sand Plover plus the other birds mentioned in the letter – Eastern Curlew and Curlew Sandpiper – are found mostly in coastal and subcoastal wetlands all around the Top End. Ray Chatto recorded tens of thousands of this species, and somewhat lesser numbers of EC and CS, in surveys carried out in 2003. Sea levels around the Top End have risen by 17 cm in the last twenty years (State of the Climate Report, CSIRO, 2012), and consequently these wetlands are being wiped out. Members of the Amateur Fishers’ Association of the NT, horrified by the destruction, have posted photos of the havoc wreaked upon one of the most significant, that of the Mary River delta, on their website. I don’t have the URL but if anyone would like to email me direct I’ll post the photos. I presented these photos in my presentation on the threats to birds at the Colombia Bird Festival, 2013 (I’ve just found a photo in an article ). The Mary River has a catchment of over 8 000 squ km. A report by Lestang & Griffith stated that 240 squ. kms of freshwater wetland had been destroyed by salt water intrusion. I can’t see a date on this research paper but suspect for various reasons it may have been written in the late 1990s. Thus salt water intrusion is likely to be far greater by now. Is sealevel rise both in northern Australia and elsewhere along flyways a greater threat than development and pollution? I don’t know. However while development etc will affect some, I imagine that sea level rise could affect all, albeit to varying degrees. The threats to our wildlife have many other dimensions. In the Top End they also include massive weed infestations now knocking out woodland and making wetlands uninhabitable for waterbirds (suitable for cattle though which will please some); inappropriate fire regimes; exotic predators; and the annual slashing of funding for outstations, making it difficult for TO’s to stay on their country, and attempt to control weeds, feral animals, and fire. Development in the Top End has proceeded often without any sort of environmental report, and because there appear to be few surveys it’s easy for Government and business to claim that no wildlife is threatened. Supporting national organisations is one way to help. However, extinction is often incremental and local, and therefore largely invisible to national organisations. Here local bodies are most important, even those not directly involved with wildlife or conservation. Which is why I work with my Aboriginal relatives, the CWA and the local firies. Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow PO Box 71 Darwin River, NT, Australia 0841 043 8650 835 PhD candidate, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW. Founding Member: Ecotourism Australia Nominated by Earthfoot for Condé Nast’s International Ecotourism Award, 2004. With every introduction of a plant or animal that goes feral this continent becomes a little less unique, a little less Australian.