122
Asset
Key Locations
Current Status
Key Values
Key Threats
Coastal Reserves
Torrens River
Estuary
Highly impacted.
Aboriginal cultural
and spiritual
values
Common seagrass
Amphibolus
Antarctica;
habitat
for marine species
and stabilisation of
sand.
Fish Nursery.
Tourism.
Visual amenity.
Weeds and Algae (
Ulva
and microalga)
Marine pests.
Tourism & recreation
Reduced or altered
groundwater discharge.
Remnant Sand
Dunes
Gulf St. Vincent
Coastline.
Tennyson and
West Beach
Impacted but highly
valued ecosystem.
Remnant dune
areas protected at
Tennyson and West
Beach
Aboriginal cultural
and spiritual
values
Habitat for > 50
native plant
species, including
Umbrella Bush
(
Acacia ligulata
)
and Coast Bitter-
bush.
Revegetation
projects
Stabilise sand.
Habitat for
protected species.
Visual amenity.
Tourism.
Ecosystem
services.
Protection for
foreshore property.
Coastal development.
Wind and waves.
Recreation.
Stormwater and
wastewater discharge.
Weeds & pest animals.
Sea level rise.
Limited water.
Fragmentation
The
Estuaries Information Package
(Adelaide and Mt Lofty Ranges NRM region) (Department for
Environment and Heritage, 2007) describes the Barker Inlet and Port Adelaide River Estuary as the
largest tidal inlet in Gulf St Vincent. The estuary is home to numerous bird species, threatened saltmarsh
plants, and is surrounded by an extensive mangrove network containing the world’s most southern stand
of the Grey Mangrove (
Avicennia marina
). It is also a known nursery area for a range of commercial fish
species, including the Western King Prawn, Black Bream, Blue Swimmer Crab and Yellow-eye Mullet. A
Management Framework and Action Plan for the Barker Inlet and Port Estuary Environs were prepared in
2004. (BIPEC 2004)
The Barker Inlet is also recognised as a Dolphin sanctuary, and is managed according to the Adelaide
Dolphin Sanctuary Management Plan (DEH 2008).
The Adelaide’s Living Beaches strategy (DEH, 2005) describes a range of actions to keep sand on
Adelaide’s beaches. Sand is required to maintain foreshore areas and protect dunes, which provide
protection to foreshore properties from storm damage.
