Migratory Shorebird Site Action Plans (SAPs) are a concept developed by BirdLife Australia with the aim of empowering communities and stakeholders to take targeted action for specific shorebird sites in a local area. Plans are developed by communities and owned locally with facilitation/expert guidance from BirdLife. In a structured approach, threats to migratory shorebirds in the area are identified and concrete actions for improved conservation outcomes defined. Local stakeholders and communities then seek the necessary resources and implement their actions. SAPs thus identify low-hanging fruit, with the ability to fast-track high impact conservation ideas and complement existing conservation planning schemes. The coastline and islands around Western Port and Phillip Island are significant migratory shorebird habitat, both nationally and internationally, and key to maintaining healthy migratory shorebird populations in Victoria.

Ongoing population declines driven by threatening processes have already led to eight species of migratory shorebirds being listed as threatened at national level, with some species such as Far Eastern Curlew experiencing declines of more than 85% in a few decades. It is critical that threatening processes are identified and tackled at local level. Since 2019, BirdLife Australia has led the development and delivery of 20 SAPs around Australia and has worked collaboratively with local land managers to implement those plans in three Australian states. The idea has proven highly successful in engaging communities, often key to overcoming anthropogenic threats to shorebirds. Currently, with seeding money support from Western Port Biosphere, BirdLife is conducting a feasibility study for a SAP for Western Port and sees enormous potential for a full Site Action Plan process to be started.

The project proposed aims to identify and manage threats to migratory shorebirds in Western Port at community level, a sustainable long-term approach critical to ensuring survival of a whole range of threatened species at a key site of international importance. It will also raise community awareness and promote education through targeted resources, events and ongoing community engagement.