Pet owners may now walk their dog on the foreshores of Sandgate, Nudgee Beach, and Manly minus a leash, as Council starts the 12-month foreshore dog off-leash trial.
The Foreshore Dog Off-Leash Area Project is a joint project of Brisbane City Council, the Department of Environment Science, and the University of Queensland. The project aims to protect and conserve shorebirds whilst creating recreational opportunities for dog owners in the identified foreshore dog off-leash areas.
The start of the one-year trial comes after Queensland Government issued the guidelines for establishing off-leash areas in marine parks, based on the result of University of Queensland research on disturbance to migratory shorebirds.
Based on a 25 years worth of data, the UQ research revealed that the population of many of the migratory species have dramatically declined and are already close to extinction, including the eastern curlew, which has already declined by 80 percent in 30 years.
By engaging the community about the areas where dogs are allowed to move about freely and areas they will need to be on-leash, disturbance to threatened shorebirds will be reduced.
Photo Credit: Brisbane City Council brisbane.qld.gov.au
The Council identified pilot sites are:
- Manly – at the end of Davenport Drive, between the fishing platform and RQYS Port Centre Park
- Nudgee Beach – in Nudgee Beach Reserve, south of the car park to Nudgee Road
- Sandgate – along Lover’s Walk between Second Avenue and Zeehan Street.
On-site signage will be in place, and community education and engagement events to ensure voluntary compliance during the trial period.
During the trial period, the University of Queensland – School of Biological Sciences will monitor shore bird species present, habitat value, and levels of disturbance along the entire foreshore.
Members of the community are invited to have their say about the dog off-leash trial by completing an online survey before midnight on 17 November 2019.