Birds and cars share Goolwa Beach, but advocates say that should change
Cedric Varcoe is a prominent Ngarrindjeri Elder and artist. (ABC South East SA: Caroline Horn)
In short:
Ngarrindjeri elder Cedric Varcoe would like vehicle access to Goolwa Beach to be restricted to protect birds and the environment.
Drivers can currently access the beach at Goolwa and drive along a 12-kilometre stretch to the mouth of the Murray River.
What's next?
Ngarrindjeri rangers will continue to work with Birdlife Australia to help monitor and protect nesting birds on the stretch of South Australian coast.
A Ngarrindjeri elder says keeping vehicles off Goolwa Beach could help to protect endangered birds as rangers and volunteers work to try and save as many chicks as possible.
Cedric Varcoe welcomed the birds in a ceremony at the Coorong last week, marking the breeding season for some and the return to South Australia of others from as far away as the Arctic.
The birds of the Coorong are some of the Ngarrindjeri community's Ngartji (totems), and Mr Varcoe said it was the community's role to fight to preserve them and protect their habitat.
"In our culture they're our friend, our spiritual guide, our protectors, and when they're not here, or when they're no longer here, our spirit is no longer alive and strong as well," he said.
There is a lack of data around the number of vehicles using Goolwa Beach. (ABC South East SA: Caroline Horn)
Birds from far and wide
The Coorong welcome ceremony coincided with the fledging of three hooded plover chicks from the Coorong Beach, a more remote site on the other side of the mouth of the Murray River from Goolwa Beach.
Birdlife Australia has been working with Ngarrindjeri rangers to improve bird survival under the federally funded Shorebird and Wetland Habitat program.
The three hooded plover fledglings on Coorong Ocean Beach were watched over by Ngarrindjeri rangers and Birdlife Australia. (Supplied: Birdlife Australia)
The charity's director of coastal, wetland and marine programs, Grainne Maguire, said the area was important for both resident and migratory shorebirds.
"They'll travel down and they'll stop over in China and Korea and then they'll come here and this is where they spend most of their life,"she said.
"They fatten up and they rest and they get all that energy which determines the journey back, but also if they breed successfully when they go back."
Signage placed on Coorong Beach, on the other side of the Murray Mouth from Goolwa Beach. (Supplied: Birdlife Australia)
One of the resident birds being watched is the fairy tern, considered to be at high risk of extinction in the wild, with 1,000 remaining in South Australia across 10 breeding sites.
Two of those sites are in the Coorong, where the terns lay their eggs in a shallow and often difficult to see nest above the high tide mark.
Ban questioned
A 12-kilometre stretch of beach between Goolwa and the mouth of the Murray River is open to four-wheel drives and popular with fishers and families.
This photo from New Years Day on 2022 shows how busy the beach can get during peak periods. (Supplied)
The beach at Goolwa attracts a high number of tourists, where the local council has responsibility for the access ramp.
While a permit system has been discussed in the past there is not currently one in place.
Hindmarsh Island resident Wayde Eldridge regularly drives on the beach, setting up his jetski and shade for himself and his dogs Little and Notso.
Wayde Eldridge of Hindmarsh Island with his dogs Little and Notso. (ABC South East SA: Caroline Horn)
He thought people driving on the beach were responsible and a ban would be unpopular.
"You get the odd young ones that do silly stuff in their cars and that, but apart from that … I think people look after it pretty well."
Adelaide University associate professor Craig Styan has been looking at how the beach is used and has surveyed a number of beachgoers.
He said while there was no level of driving on the beach that had zero environmental impact, it posed a difficult management question.
"It's almost a paradox … the reason for going is because it's a natural environment, but you being there potentially impacts on some of those natural values," he said.
A fairy tern in its nest on a Coorong beach. (Supplied: Birdlife Australia)
Dr Styan said many beach drivers were unaware of the impact their cars were having.
SA Environment Minister Emily Bourke said the government would "continue to work with relevant agencies and local councils on matters affecting the safety and protection of our beaches and coastal environments".