Those who want to create a footbridge and boardwalk across Marshalls Creek into the north part of Brunswick Heads Nature Reserve (north of the river) have not taken into account what ‘nature reserves’ are and why they exist.
Already we have access by foot, boat, car or bike to this fragile and special ecosystem, so it’s hard to understand any need for a footbridge bringing heavy foot traffic on boardwalks. It is a delicate ‘nature reserve’, i.e., reserved for nature, which has a different protection listing to a ‘national park’.
This tiny piece of littoral forest holds many flora species that are rare and endangered. The shorebirds consist of several migrating species that have flown tens of thousands of miles to rest here, such as the great and little terns (endangered), eastern curlew (critically endangered), the godwits (near-threatened, numbers declining), as well as the local oystercatchers (endangered), plus many more.
Already there are people who walk straight into bird camps on the beach without realising the birds must rest and gain weight before their return flights across the globe. A local species, the beach stone curlew (critically endangered and declining) on last count shows only three in the reserve.
Habitat will be destroyed in making bridge and boardwalk infrastructure. With increased human traffic, noise and litter, there will be disturbance to nesting, mating and habitat. Wallabies, bats, wallum froglets, pythons, will be exposed to possible fires, easy dog and fox access (already an ongoing problem), trampled flora etc. You can understand why a footbridge is not a good idea.
Already National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is hard pushed to keep this small and narrow isthmus protected, lying precariously between two tidal rivers and the battering ocean.
I can do no better than quote from the NPWS website. ‘Nature reserves are areas of land in predominantly untouched, natural condition, with high conservation value.’
‘It is home to various threatened plant species and endangered ecological communities. Their primary purpose is to protect and conserve their outstanding, unique or representative ecosystems and Australian native plants and animals. Scientific research is an important objective in nature reserves, as it increases our understanding of their values and provides the information needed to conserve them.’
Richard Whitling (Echo 30 July) points to better ways to spend our meagre Council funds for worthy, non-damaging or basic needs of residents of Ocean Shores. Footpaths maybe? We, who are lucky to live here, have a big responsibility to protect our remaining endangered coastal forests and wildlife
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
