St Helens (Tasmania) (23990)
Australia, Australasia

Site overview

KBA status: confirmed

Global KBA criteria: D1a

Year of last assessment: 2009

National site name: St Helens (Tasmania)

Central coordinates: Latitude: -41.3063, Longitude: 148.3065

System: marine, terrestrial

Elevation (m): 0 to 30

Area of KBA (km²): 22.73655

Protected area coverage (%): 33.18

KBA classification: Global

Legacy site: Yes

Site details

Site description: This IBA consists of four neighbouring but discontinuous sites around St Helens in north-east Tasmania. These are St Helens and Paddys Islands, the adjacent 9 km open oceanic Maurouard Beach and Peron Dunes inland of the beach, and the inner reaches of Georges Bay. These are included in the same IBA as they are neighbouring areas in or adjacent to the St Helens Conservation Area and distant from other similar seabird or shorebird sites. Intertidal flats along the whole northern shore of Georges Bay from St Helens bridge to Granite Rock/Blanche Point and the southern shore as far as Stockyards Flat are important for Pied Oystercatcher. St Helens Wastewater Treatment Plant is excluded as it only supports small numbers of birds but the Medeas Cove wetlands have supported Australasian Bittern and Lewin's Rail and are worthy of further fieldwork (Binns 2008). St Helens and Paddys Islands are composed of granite with rocky shorelines, no beaches and plateau-like summits. The vegetation on St Helens (51 ha) varies from Poa poiformis dominated coastal areas to areas of dense shrub; Paddys (4.6 ha) is dominated by Poa poiformis with scattered Disphyma crassifolium and Atriplex cinerea. Maurouard Beach is an open exposed sandy beach - the entire beach and dunes are included in the IBA for their populations of Hooded Plover and breeding Fairy Tern.

Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that meets the thresholds for at least one criterion described in the Global Standard for the Identification of KBAs.

Additional biodiversity: Breeding seabirds include an estimated 10,000 pairs of White-faced Storm-Petrel, 2350 pairs of Short-tailed Shearwater and 10 pairs of Common Diving-Petrel at St Helens Island, and small numbers of Kelp Gull and Caspian Tern at Paddys Island. The 18 species recorded at St Helens Island include Lewin's Rail, Brown Quail and Brown Goshawk. In 1998/99, 11 shorebird species were recorded on Maurouard Beach: Bar-tailed Godwit, Curlew Sandpiper, Sanderling, Hooded Plover, Pied Oystercatcher, Red-capped Plover, Fairy Tern, Crested Tern, Pacific Gull, Kelp Gull and Silver Gull. Occasional sightings of Green Rosella, Tasmanian Scrubwren, Tasmanian Thornbill, Yellow Wattlebird and Yellow-throated Honeyeater recorded in Atlas of Australian Birds surveys from 1998 to 2008 (Atlas of Australian Birds database). Non-bird biodiversity: Metallic Skink occurs. Poa poiformis is the dominant plant at Paddys Island and at lower elevations at St Helens Island, notably areas where scrub has been reduced by fire. Acacia sophorae, Leptospermum scoparium and Leucopogon parviflorus scrub, Pteridium esculentum and a thick covering of Tetragonia implexicoma are other features at St Helens Island, while Disphyma crassifolium and Atriplex cinerea are scattered amongst Poa at Paddys Island.

Other site values: St Helens = Parks and Wildlife Service; Paddys Island = unallocated Crown Land. Although access is unregulated, visitors should minimise disturbance to breeding seabirds.

Habitats

Land use: nature conservation and research | not utilised

IUCN Habitat	Coverage %	Habitat detail
Introduced Vegetation	5
Marine Neritic	5
Marine Intertidal	43
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	43
Shrubland	5

Threats

Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: St Helens and Paddys Islands should be managed to minimise the impact of human visitation. Recreational activities on the beach (walking, driving and dog-walking) should be controlled. Consider eradicating rabbits from St Helens Island. A management plan should be developed and implemented for the whole conservation area.

Threat level 1	Threat level 2	Threat level 3	Timing
Biological resource use	Fishing & harvesting aquatic resources	Unintentional effects: large scale (species being assessed is not the target) [harvest]	Ongoing
Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases	Named species	Ongoing
Human intrusions & disturbance	Recreational activities		Ongoing

Additional information

References: Binns, D. (1998) A will to survive: Fairy Terns breeding on Maurouard Beach, St Helens. Tasmanian Bird Report 27: 24. Binns, D. (2008) Wetland bird counts in the St Helens area: March 1991 to March 2003. Tasmanian Bird Report 33. Britton, P. and Charlesworth, D. (2005) The 2004 summer and winter wader counts. Tasmanian Bird Report 31: 14-21. Brothers, N., Pemberton, D., Pryor, H. and Halley, V. (2001) Tasmania's Offshore Islands: seabirds and other natural features. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery: Hobart. Marchant, S. and Higgins, P.J. (Eds) (1990) Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 1: Ratites to Ducks. Oxford University Press: Melbourne. McManus, T.J. (1979) St Helens Island, Tasmania. Corella 72: 52-54. Higgins, P.J. and Davies, S.J.J.F. (Eds) (1996) Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 3: Snipe to Pigeons. Oxford University Press: Melbourne. Jones, E., Park, P., Wakefield, W.C., Jones, D. and Woehler, E. (2002) Effects of recreational activities on the birds of Maurouard Beach, St Helens Point Conservation Area. Birds Tasmania: Hobart. Park, P. (2002) Summer and winter wader counts, 2002 and 2003. Tasmanian Bird Report 30: 28-41. Parks and Wildlife Service (2001) Small North-East Islands Draft Management Plan July 2002. Parks and Wildlife Service: Hobart. Skira, I.J., Brothers, N.P. and Pemberton, D. (1996) Distribution, abundance and conservation status of Short-tailed Shearwater Puffinus tenuirostris in Tasmania, Australia. Marine Ornithology 24: 1-14.