New 4WD vehicle tracking aims to protect loggerhead turtles

All vehicles will now be checked for valid permits on one of southeast Queensland’s busiest 4WD beaches in a bid to clamp down on illegal offroading and to protect local wildlife, but a local conservation group says there is another step that needs to be taken.

Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch visited Bribie Island to speak with QPWS rangers about the loggerhead turtle population. Photo supplied.

All 4WDs entering the Bribie Island Recreation Area will now be tracked with the implementation of 24 hour monitoring system that went live at the weekend.

The new system will check vehicle registration details against the Queensland National Parks Booking Service and any vehicle identified not to have a valid vehicle access permit will be issued a penalty infringement notice (PIN).

Minister for the Environment and Great Barrier Reef Leeanne Enoch said one of the key advantages of the system was that it operated 24 hours a day and would deter any four-wheel drivers who “are entering the park at night, often without permits when turtles are nesting and can be easily disturbed”.

“This advanced number plate recognition system is a first of its kind in an Australian national park entrance and combined with the existing four-wheel drive vehicle access permits, will help ensure that the ecosystem, native animals and turtle hatchlings are observed and not disturbed,” Ms Enoch said.

“While the vast majority of visitors to Bribie Island do the right thing, anyone found driving on vegetated dunes and disturbing shore birds, turtles and other beach species or performing unauthorised or inappropriate four-wheel driving will face enforcement,” Ms Enoch said.

“We want to ensure that Bribie Island remains protected now and for future generations.”

Ms Enoch said the cameras would provide rangers with real time monitoring and accurate vehicle usage numbers and owners without a valid permit would be issued with a $200 penalty infringement notice.

She said visitors were reminded to ensure they purchased a vehicle access permit before entering the recreation area as regular patrols were also conducted by rangers and police.

Bribie Island Environment Protection Association (BIEPA) says 4WDs are killing wildlife and sterilising the internationally protected beach habitat. Photo BIEPA.

Bribie Island Environment Protection Association (BIEPA) president Diane Oxenford said the new system would not prevent permit holders from driving on the beach at night or any other time and called for the introduction of a gate at the beach entry to stop 4WDs from accessing the sand two hours either side of the high tide.

“It’s (the system) really just about catching people doing something illegal in the government’s eyes …… people with permits will still be able to run over baby turtles and make ruts in the sand,” she said.

“A gate (at the entry) would be a huge help in protecting the natural environment and the turtles. It would stop them from doing, what the Department already recommends, and that is driving on the beach two hours either side of the high tide.”

“Ultimately we want them to ban 4WDS except for tours that actually educate people about nature and the local history.

“Bribie is a natural reserve and a sanctuary and it is protected internationally.”

BIEPA says wildlife including crabs and loggerhead turtles are endangered and being killed by the use of 4WDs on Bribie Island. Photo. BIEPA

She raised concerns 22km of 4WD recreation beach was “sterile and no longer a living healthy beach ecosystem” due to the impacts of vehicles.

Ms Oxenford said beach traffic at night was particularly concerning as this was “when the dunes are most at risk because the turtles come and go mostly at night”.

“The only way we will truly protect the environment is to ban them (4WDs). They compact the sand and they interfere with a living beach.

“Having the number plate identification is not going to stop them going up two hours either side of the high tide mark only a gate will do that.

“It’s only going to catch people doing something illegal it is not going to protect the environment.”

Ms Oxenford said 4WDs were compacting and sterilising the beach which impacted shore birds feeding.

“People don’t understand what the 4WDs are doing - they need to be filled in and once the light bulb has gone on they will understand .... this is a natural environment - a natural asset and we have to save it,” she said.

All 4WDs using the Bribie Island Recreation Area (BIRA) will now be monitored following the implementation of a new system at the weekend. Photo. Supplied.

Senior Ranger Emma Barraclough said Bribie Island was one of the most intensively managed of Queensland’s protected estates and the new system would add to the tools rangers have to promote education and compliance.

“Permits must be attached to the lower left-hand side of the vehicle’s windscreen or if the vehicle does not have a windscreen, another prominent position on the vehicle,” she said.

“Road condition signs are located at White Patch and Woorim park entrances to alert visitors of any track or beach closures.”

Permit information is available through the Department of Environment and Science.