Continuing to strengthen South Australia's preparedness for H5 bird flu

The Department for Environment and Water is working alongside landscape boards to undertake ground-based and aerial invasive species control, weed management and revegetation works at various sites.

These activities focus on areas that provide internationally important habitats for many species vulnerable to H5 bird flu, including Australian sea lions, fairy terns, white-bellied sea eagles and pelicans. They include Ramsar and remote wetlands, offshore islands and other critical sites used by migratory shorebirds, seabirds and waterbirds.

Project highlights include:

• Habitat restoration and feral bird control on the offshore islands of Fleurieu Peninsula.
• Predator control and habitat restoration to safeguard migratory and threatened birds on the Limestone Coast.
• Fox and feral cat control to protect vulnerable bird species’ breeding, nesting and roosting sites along the metropolitan coastline.
• Invasive pig control at the Coongie Lakes Ramsar site in the Far North.

This funding is part of the broader $100 million investment to prepare for H5 bird flu, helping state and territory governments to be as ready as possible for a potential outbreak. This includes $35.9 million for environment measures, with the following investments already underway in South Australia: 

• $1.4 million to boost Australian sea lion resilience, jointly funded with the state government.
• $300,000 to support species and site preparedness planning.
• More than $130,000 to protect captive populations of threatened species in facilities across the state.

The state government has also delivered a new mobile biosecurity laboratory to enable rapid processing and turnaround of samples – a critical factor during emergency animal disease outbreaks.