“It’s a pretty amazing experience. This is the second time in about 30 years that we’ve managed to hatch these birds on a public beach,” she said.
Keating added she hopes people won’t write off the birds, and will learn about their environment and how to better support it.
The pied oystercatchers are endangered in NSW.Credit: Janie Barrett
Director of the Centre for Ecosystem Science, Professor Richard Kingsford said there was limited data on many bird species, including the pied oystercatcher.
Kingsford, who has surveyed major wetland sites in eastern Australia for 40 years, said we only tend to pay special attention – as well as conservation efforts – to birds that fall into the critically endangered category.
“That is part of the big challenge: we are missing potentially major changes in biodiversity which we know are happening but don’t have the comprehensive data to advise where things are up to,” he said.
“So much of our conservation is really dealing with that part of the biodiversity spectrum when things become threatened.”
Biodiversity Council member and professor of environmental management at the University of Queensland Martine Maron said once a species was added to the threatened list, it rarely recovered.
“But there are examples of recovery, and so we know that it can be achieved. Usually, this occurs when there is strong investment and sustained action,” she said. “However, most species have little to no funding to implement plans for their recovery, even when we know what needs to be done.”
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Maron added while governments could make adequate funds available to conserve all threatened species, at the moment they do not as the political will was lacking.
“So until we see that change, we are forced to prioritise. Ideally, the priority species in which to invest a limited budget are those for which the greatest difference can be made for the lowest cost,” she said.
“In practice, often the species that receive the most attention are the most threatened, or the most charismatic, or both.”
She added that, while the pied oystercatchers got marks for their charisma, they might lose out against koalas in popularity and subsequent funding. The birds also were not nationally threatened, which further reduced their funding appeal.
“Yet, we should be concerned about even local and regional declines, not only national declines. Every species plays a role in the ecosystem, and when their abundance is reduced, the ecosystem is affected.
“It is the local decline of many species collectively that causes ecosystem degradation. And that is why local conservation efforts that support local biodiversity – not only the most high-profile and threatened species – are so important. The actions of local conservation groups – and even dedicated individuals – can make all the difference in managing threats and restoring ecosystems.”
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