Campaign to save shorebirds
ENVIRONMENTALISTS are demanding increased action to save Geelong’s migratory shorebirds from extinction.
Birdlife Australia will host an event in Geelong tonight, as part of a national campaign aimed at strengthening environmental laws.
Advocates predict that without imminent action, a once-regular visitor to the region’s shores, the curlew sandpiper, will become extinct.
“These birds are less than 23cm high and they fly all the way from their breeding grounds in Siberia to Australia and back again in a year,” Birdlife Australia’s Connie Lee said.
“This is an urgent issue. We love seeing these incredible birds around Moolap in summer when they come to forage along the coastline, but their numbers are rapidly declining.”
The new campaign comes amid growing frustration over the lack of clarity surrounding key shorebird areas at Moolap.
The State Government was supposed to release its Moolap Coastal plan in 2017, but the large-scale and complex project is still under wraps.
The plan aims to develop a long- term strategy for more than 1200 hectares of land around Moolap, include Alcoa’s holdings at Point Henry and the former Cheetham wetlands.
Geelong Field Naturalists Club member John Newman said his group was disappointed about the “infuriating lack of transparency and bitter neglect” to act on the long-delayed blueprint.
“This plan has been stalled, stuck on a desk in the dark, while valuable birdlife like the Curlew Sandpiper suffer the consequences,” he said.
The public forum will be held at Beav’s Bar on Tuesday from 6pm.