A Parks Australia’s project is helping restore habitat for seabirds nesting on an island in the Coral Sea Marine Park.
South Islet sits about 500km off Queensland’s east coast. The island hosts key breeding habitat for seabirds, including:
- sooty terns
- red-footed boobies
- brown noddies
- wedge-tailed shearwaters.
As Australia prepares for and responds to the impacts of H5 bird flu, the project is improving nesting habitat for these seabirds by:
- removing invasive weeds
- revegetating native plants.
An estimated 5 tonnes of weeds have already been removed by hand. This has helped restore important nesting habitat for seabirds. In some areas, birds began nesting within hours of the weeds being cleared.
Follow-up monitoring 2 months later found that other restored areas have also been re-occupied by nesting birds. This highlights the immediate benefits this work can have.
H5 bird flu has arrived in Australia, but the disease has not been detected in the Coral Sea Marine Park. Preparedness projects like this are giving native species the best chance to withstand and recover from the impacts of the H5 bird flu, should it spread further.
The project is being delivered with more than $1 million in Australian Government funding.
The work will not only strengthen seabird populations as Australia responds to H5 bird flu but also deliver long-term conservation benefit for the Coral Sea Marine Park.
The Australian Government has committed more than $270 million to prepare for H5 bird flu. This includes $67.1 million for biodiversity measures.
H5 bird flu has been detected in Australian wildlife. There are no detections in poultry or our agricultural system. The current risk of bird flu to people in Australia is low.
