Hawke's Bay: Plastic a problem but dotterels the real concern

Piles of plastic continue to plague this beach regularly surveyed by members of a local Green Party team, but it's the plight of dotterels that has them really concerned this year.

Piles of plastic continue to plague this beach regularly surveyed by members of a local Green Party team, but it's the plight of dotterels that has them really concerned this year.

A group of Hawke's Bay citizen scientists was out again recently collecting litter from our beaches and analysing its contents for a national database.

One of its organisers, Marilyn Scott, says there was good news and bad from this week's clean-up.

"It was great to see the beach a lot cleaner after our massive clean-ups in September 2019 and January 2020, although there were still heaps of plastic in our survey area which is a stretch of coastline near the Clive River mouth."

It's the fourth time this group, organised by the Hawke's Bay Green Party, has collected and analysed the litter from along this stretch of coastline. Other litter survey teams are working on different stretches of beach near Napier.

"What was especially obvious to us this time, however, is the vulnerability of banded dotterel, the tūturiwhatu, on our beaches as we head toward breeding season," Marilyn says.

"Last spring we spotted quite a few dotterel during our litter survey but they appear to have diminished significantly even though this estuary site should be safer than some other areas where there is easy road access."

Dotterels, which are a threatened native, nest in open shingle. This makes them especially vulnerable to all forms of traffic as well as dogs.

Marilyn says the group is pleased Hawke's Bay Regional Council and the Department of Conservation have confirmed they are going to put up signs.

"We urgently need some public education about dotterel, where they nest and how we can look after them. Protecting these birds is something we can do locally."

Sustainable Coastlines NZ initiated the nationwide litter research project a year ago to train local people to collect long-term data that is reliable and not based on assumptions or best guesses. There are four litter survey teams in Hawke's Bay working on different stretches of coastline near Napier.

Councils and governments can then access this information and prioritise their action around litter control and prevention using this data. It can also be used for public education and to present to manufacturers of products.