The Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary National Park—Winaityinaityi Pangkara is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

established by the

South Australian government The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or more formally, His Majesty’s Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. It is modelled o ...

on the northeast coast of Gulf St Vincent, between Parham in the north and the southern end of

Barker Inlet The Barker Inlet is a tidal inlet of the Gulf St Vincent in Adelaide, South Australia, named after Captain Collet Barker who first sighted it in 1831. It contains one of the southernmost mangrove forests in the world, a dolphin sanctuary, seagra ...

(part of the

Port River estuary The Port River (officially known as the Port Adelaide River) is part of a tidal estuary located north of the Adelaide city centre in the Australian state of South Australia. It has been used as a shipping channel since the beginning of European ...

) in the south, for the purpose of rehabilitating land used as salt pans, protecting habitat for international migratory

shorebirds 245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...

, managing water quality in adjoining parts of Gulf St Vincent, creation of "green" space, development of niche tourism and creation of opportunities for

Indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

. This very low-gradient, low-energy coastline, containing a broad lateral extent of subtidal

seagrass meadow A seagrass meadow or seagrass bed is an underwater ecosystem formed by seagrasses. Seagrasses are marine (saltwater) plants found in shallow coastal waters and in the brackish waters of estuaries. Seagrasses are flowering plants with stems an ...

s, intertidal

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

s and supratidal

saltmarsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

es and salinas, extends from the

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

metropolitan area as far as the head of Gulf St Vincent, and is also known as the "Samphire Coast". The coastline north of Parham, outside the proposed sanctuary, also has a high degree of protection through being in the

Port Wakefield Proof and Experimental Establishment A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

, and the Clinton Conservation Park.

Key objectives

The Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary is a protected area established by the SA government for the northeast coast of Gulf St Vincent extending from Adelaide to its immediate north with the view of achieving the five key outcomes: #Protection of habitat particularly used by shorebirds that migrate over large extents of the Earth's surface.DEWNR, 2014, page 7 #Management of water quality in Gulf St Vincent particularly in respect to stormwater and wastewater produced in the northern suburbs of

and its treatment prior to release into Gulf St Vincent. #Creation of 'green' space 'on the fringes of the northern Adelaide Plains that will allow stormwater recycling, absorb carbon dioxide and enhance the amenity and attractiveness of the region'. #Tourism development that 'provide opportunities for developing exclusive, high-end tourism experiences with a focus on national and international birdwatchers'. #Indigenous involvement via measures to 'employ and engage Aboriginal people and use Indigenous knowledge to develop and implement environmental and cultural heritage education and interpretation programs.' A driver for the proposal is the need to rehabilitate land previously used at Dry Creek, St Kilda and other localities as salt pans and managing the environmental risks arising from the cessation of salt evaporation process of salt extract such as exposing of acid sulphate soils. Eastern Great Egrets roosting at Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary South Australia

Eastern Great Egrets roosting at Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary South Australia

Extent

The Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary extends from

in the south to Parham in the north over a distance of . Its extent overlaps and adjoins existing protected areas such as the Port Gawler and

Torrens Island Torrens Island is an island in the Australian state of South Australia located in the Adelaide metropolitan area in the Port River Estuary about northwest of the Adelaide city centre. Since European settlement of Adelaide in 1836, it has ...

conservation parks, the Upper Gulf St Vincent Marine Park, the

Barker Inlet-St Kilda Aquatic Reserve Barker may refer to: Occupations * Barker (occupation), a person who attempts to attract patrons to entertainment events * Barker (coachbuilder), a builder of horse-drawn coaches and later of bodywork for prestige cars * a person who strips tanba ...

, the

St Kilda – Chapman Creek Aquatic Reserve __NOTOC__ St Kilda – Chapman Creek Aquatic Reserve is a marine protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located in waters on the east coast of Gulf St Vincent adjoining the suburbs of Buckland Park and St Kilda about north o ...

and the

Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary (ADS) is a marine protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located on the east coast of Gulf St Vincent in and adjoining the north-western part of the Adelaide, covering the estuary of the Port River ...

. The sanctuary also includes of land that adjoins the Port Gawler Conservation Park and Buckland Park lake, which was purchased in 2013 by the SA government with financial contributions from

Nature Foundation SA Nature Foundation, formerly The National Parks Foundation and Nature Foundation SA Inc. (NFSA), is the largest non-government nature conservation organisation based in South Australia. It was founded in October 1981, and is supported by the Gov ...

and

Birds SA The South Australian Ornithological Association (SAOA), also known as Birds SA, is an Australian birding organisation based in Adelaide, South Australia. The SAOA publishes a journal, the ''South Australian Ornithologist'' as well as the ''Birds ...

. In 2014 the sanctuary was proclaimed a conservation park under the ''

National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 Protected areas of South Australia consists of protected areas located within South Australia and its immediate onshore waters and which are managed by South Australian Government agencies. As of March 2018, South Australia contains 359 sepa ...

'', in order to 'provide one of the highest levels of protection allowed for by state legislation'.DEWNR, 2014, page 17

Timeline

The SA government committed to the proposal at the state election held in March 2014. The 2014–15 State Budget included expenditure of A$0.3 million for the purpose of commencing work.GSA, 2014, pages 154–155 A formal announcement about the proposal was made by Ian Hunter, the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation on 20 August 2014, including the purchase of of land formerly held by salt operators, but undeveloped, for the sum of A$2 million. The SA Government has also committed to an expenditure of A$1.7 million over a period of four years for the sanctuary's establishment and its ongoing maintenance, with a likely completion in 2018. Land in the localities of

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

and Lower Light was proclaimed as a national park under the ''National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972'' on 27 October 2016 with the name ''Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary National Park—Winaityinaityi Pangkara'' with ''Winaityinaityi Pangkara'' being the national park's name in the

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

of the

Kaurna The Kaurna people (, ; also Coorna, Kaura, Gaurna and other variations) are a group of Aboriginal people whose traditional lands include the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. They were known as the Adelaide tribe by the early settlers. Kaurna ...

people, whose traditional lands include the Adelaide metropolitan area and the extent of the national park.

Citations and references

Citations

References

* *

External links

Official webpageThe Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary- BirdLife Australia 1080p
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary National parks of South Australia Protected areas in Adelaide Gulf St Vincent Bird sanctuaries Eyre Yorke Block