Gulf St Vincent IBA
Location of the Gulf St Vincent Important Bird Area in South Australia
The Gulf St Vincent Important Bird Area comprises land extending along the coast of Gulf St Vincent, north of Adelaide, South Australia.
The Gulf St Vincent Important Bird Area comprises land extending along the coast of Gulf St Vincent, north of Adelaide, South Australia.
The Gulf St Vincent Important Bird Area (IBA) is a 256 square kilometres (99 square miles) strip of coastline containing the continuous mudflats along the north and north-east of Gulf St Vincent north of Adelaide. It extends from Ardrossan in the north-west, around the head of the Gulf to the mouth of the Port River and Outer Harbor in Adelaide. The main habitats are intertidal mudflats, mangroves and two large saltworks, with some small coastal wetlands. [1]
Much of the IBA adjoins industrial and residential suburbs, especially to the north of Adelaide. Key sites include the Price saltworks, Clinton Conservation Park, Parham, Port Prime, the Dry Creek wetlands and saltworks, Salisbury wetlands, Barker Inlet wetlands, Bolivar Wastewater Treatment Plant, Buckland Park Lake, the Port River mouth, the Torrens Island complex, and Outer Harbor. Many birds move between the various sites and the area is treated as a single IBA. [1]
The coast of Gulf St Vincent from Ardrossan to the Barker Inlet has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports over 1% of the world populations of black-faced cormorants, red-necked stints, sharp-tailed sandpipers, banded stilts, red-capped plovers, sooty and pied oystercatchers, and silver gulls. It also supports populations of Australasian bitterns and fairy terns. [2]
While the IBA has no statutory status, it does overlap the following protected areas declared by the South Australian government: Barker Inlet-St Kilda Aquatic Reserve, Clinton Conservation Park, St Kilda – Chapman Creek Aquatic Reserve, Torrens Island Conservation Park and Wills Creek Conservation Park. [1]
The IBA also adjoins and overlaps the proposed Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary to be established by the South Australian government over the period 2014 to 2018 on the east side of Gulf St Vincent between Parham in the north and the southern end of Barker Inlet in the south for the purpose of rehabilitating land used as salt pans, protecting habitat for international migratory birds, 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. [3]
Protected areas of South Australia, consisting of protected areas located within South Australia and its immediate onshore waters and which are managed by South Australian Government agencies. As of 2018, South Australia contained 359 separate protected areas declared under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972, the Crown Land Management Act 2009 and the Wilderness Protection Act 1992. Together, they cover a total land area of 211,387.48 km2 (81,617.16 sq mi) or 21.5% of the state's area.
The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost and larger of two large inlets on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, facing the Great Australian Bight. It spans from the Cape Catastrophe and Eyre Peninsula in the west to Cape Spencer and Yorke Peninsula in the east.
Lake Torrens is a large ephemeral, normally endorheic salt lake in central South Australia. After sufficiently extreme rainfall events, the lake flows out through the Pirie-Torrens corridor to the Spencer Gulf.
The Yorke Peninsula, known as Guuranda by the original inhabitants, the Narungga people, is a peninsula located northwest and west of Adelaide in South Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf St Vincent on the east. The peninsula is separated from Kangaroo Island to the south by Investigator Strait.
The Port 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 settlement of South Australia in 1836, when Colonel Light selected the site to use as a port. Before colonisation, the Port River region and the estuary area were known as Yerta Bulti by the Kaurna people, and used extensively as a source of food and plant materials to fashion artefacts used in daily life.
Dry Creek is a mostly industrial suburb north of Adelaide, containing significant wetlands. A substantial area was devoted to salt crystallisation pans until 2014, with plans to redevelop the site for housing.
Investigator Strait is a body of water in South Australia lying between the Yorke Peninsula, on the Australian mainland, and Kangaroo Island. It was named by Matthew Flinders after his ship, HMS Investigator, on his voyage of 1801–1802. It is bordered by the Gulf St Vincent in the northeast.
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, seagrass meadows and is an important fish and shellfish breeding ground. The inlet separates Torrens Island and Garden Island from the mainland to the east, and is characterised by a network of tidal creeks, artificially deepened channels, and wide mudflats. The extensive belt of mangroves are bordered by samphire saltmarsh flats and low-lying sand dunes.
St Kilda is a coastal township, now classed as a suburb, 21 kilometres north-north-west of the centre of Adelaide, capital city of South Australia. With a population below 100 and a sole 4-kilometre (2.5-mile) road connecting to the nearest highway, its natural and built resources have remained relatively undisturbed. The seafront, containing a large area of mangroves, faces the Barker Inlet, which is part of the Port River estuarine area. St Kilda is an internationally recognised bird-watching area: more than 100 species of birds feed in and around the mudflats, salt lagoons, mangroves and seagrass beds.
Torrens Island is an island in the Australian state of South Australia located in the Adelaide metropolitan area in the Port River Estuary about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) northwest of the Adelaide city centre. Since European settlement of Adelaide in 1836, it has been used for a number of purposes.
The Werribee and Avalon Important Bird Area comprises some 37 km2 of coastal land along the northwestern shore of Port Phillip in the state of Victoria, in southeastern Australia. It is important for a wide variety of waterbirds.
Wills Creek Conservation Park is a protected area located on the Yorke Peninsula adjoining the north west coast of Gulf St Vincent in South Australia immediately east of Price. The conservation park which was proclaimed in 2006 under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972, is considered to be ‘a significant coastal wetland/estuary area supporting mangroves and intertidal habitats’ and that two creeks located within its boundaries, Wills and Shag Creeks, are ‘known fish nursery areas’ and ‘an important habitat for seabirds’. The conservation park is classified as an IUCN Category VI protected area.
Torrens Island Conservation Park is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located on Torrens Island in the Adelaide metropolitan area about 17 kilometres north-northwest of the state capital of Adelaide and about 3.9 kilometres north-northeast of Port Adelaide.
The Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary National Park is a protected area in South Australia established by the South Australian government on the northeast coast of Gulf St Vincent, between Parham in the north and the southern end of Barker Inlet in the south. Its purpose is to rehabilitate land used as salt pans, protect habitat for international migratory shorebirds, manage water quality in adjoining parts of Gulf St Vincent, create "green" space, develop niche tourism and create opportunities for indigenous people.
Busby Islet is an islet in the Australian state of South Australia located in Nepean Bay on the north coast of Kangaroo Island about 2 kilometres north of the municipal seat of Kingscote. The islet and adjoining areas are notable as habitat for bird life. The islet has enjoyed protected area status since 1909 and since at least 1972, have been part of the Busby Islet Conservation Park.
Garden Island is an island in the Australian state of South Australia located about 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) north-west of the capital city of Adelaide in an estuary system within the Adelaide metropolitan area which drains into Gulf St Vincent. It is notable as being a site for a mangrove forest, a landfill, a part of the site for the Multifunction Polis, a ship graveyard and a venue for recreational boating activities. It has enjoyed varying degrees of protected area status since 1973.
Barker Inlet – St Kilda Aquatic Reserve is a marine protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located in waters adjoining the east coast of Gulf St Vincent in Barker Inlet about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) north of the state capital of Adelaide.
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 24.8 kilometres (15.4 mi) north of the state capital of Adelaide.
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 Adelaide, covering the estuary of the Port River around Port Adelaide and northwards past St Kilda. It was established in 2005 for the protection of a resident population of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins.
34°26′37″S138°15′18″E / 34.44361°S 138.25500°E
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