Flinders Island Safe Haven
Flinders Island is a unique and wild place, with around 50 km of diverse and stunning coastline, featuring granite boulders, limestone headlands, sandy beaches, dune systems and sheltered bays. From 2025, Flinders Island will be transformed into a safe haven for nationally threatened species.
The restoration of Flinders Island will secure South Australia’s fourth largest island (3,854 ha) into Australia’s network of havens which consists of more than 100 predator free islands and 20 fenced areas that contain vulnerable mammals.
The project aims to protect and restore the island’s unique ecosystem by eradicating cats, rats and mice. Upon successful eradication of these pests, threatened plant and animal species can be introduced to the island. This will create a lasting impact that will stimulate conservation and nature-based tourism with opportunities for the community to get involved.
The role of safe havens
During the past 200 years, more than 30 Australian mammals have become extinct. Feral cats and foxes have been identified as the major cause of these extinctions.
To lessen the risk of further extinctions, government, landowners and conservation groups have created areas that are predator free, providing ‘havens’ for our most at risk mammals. Australia’s network of havens consists of more than 100 predator-free islands and 20 fenced areas that conserve predator-susceptible mammals.
The value of Flinders Island as a haven
The unique nature of islands provide natural biosecurity barriers that dramatically reduce the cost to maintain a feral-free environment as well as having a high level of ongoing protection against reinvasion.
Flinders Island, off the Elliston coast, holds great promise as a safe haven with ideal features including:
- 'Built-in’ biosecurity as an island, reducing the potential for reinvasion (with strict biosecurity protocols for all future visitors).
- No need to build and maintain costly predator-proof fence.
- Limited and managed visitation thanks to its remote location and distance from shore.
- Relatively mild maritime climate and reliable rainfall, compared to arid zone havens that are more susceptible to climate change threats of drought and severe heatwaves.
- Plenty of natural regeneration potential with remnant native vegetation such as Drooping Sheoak woodland and Tea Tree forest, plus large areas formerly cleared for agriculture.
Key project actions
To establish Flinders Island as a safe haven, there are a number of actions that need to be successfully completed over several years.
Completed
- Removal of livestock from the island
The island has been privately owned by the Woolford Family since the 1970s, initially operating as a sheep station until the mid-2000s. Since then, destocking has been underway as the family has transitioned to nature-based tourism enterprises. The last stock were removed from the island in May 2025. - Eradication of mice, rats and cats
Eradication of rodents through the aerial delivery of a pellet bait across the island has taken place from May 2025. Application of Eradicat baits alongside intensive ground-based operations to locate and remove all remaining cats has been happening since June. This includes cat on-ground operations such as thermal drone, remote camera monitoring, foot searches and detector dog surveys taking place to ensure no threat of cat predation remains on the island. The island has been closed from May 2025 for this operation.
Coming up
- Biosecurity
When the island opens for visitors in January 2026, it will have strict biosecurity procedures in place for all guests, contractors and staff visiting. This involves three key stages to ensure Flinders Island remains pest free: quarantine (prevention), surveillance (detection), and response to incursions (contingency). Effective biosecurity helps prevent the transport of exotic animals, plants insects and seeds to Flinders Island in personal luggage or freight. Biosecurity is a Shared Responsibility – each person travelling to Flinders Island plays a crucial role in managing the biosecurity risk. - Habitat restoration
Opportunities for restoration of overstorey trees, grasses and shrubs. Already in winter 2025 with no stock and rodents on the island, native orchids were flowering again and sheoak seedlings were thriving. - Monitoring
Baseline flora and fauna monitoring of the island will continue to take place capturing the restoration process, document species and monitor changes to the landscape with changes to land use over time. This data will inform future mammal introductions, providing baseline evidence prior to reintroduction. - Mammal introductions
There will be monthly pest detection and success checks on the island as it is required to remain rodent and cat free for two years before declared safe and a successful eradication program (May 2027). Following the success checks, introductions of small native mammals will start to establish new populations of highly endangered native mammals. - Fossil records show that animals such as the Western Quoll, Southern Brown Bandicoot, Common Brushtail Possum, and Banded Hare-wallaby were once present, but no native terrestrial mammals remain. These animals are now considered threatened species that are highly vulnerable to cat predation on the mainland.
- Conservation agreement
Working collaboratively with private landholders is recognised as a critically important step in modern conservation efforts. The owners of the island, the Woolford family, are dedicated to creating a haven for threatened species, working with a skilled team to enhance the island’s ecosystem. A conservation agreement will be placed over most of the island, in addition to an existing Heritage Agreement that covers about 250 ha.
How it began
A fully integrated eradication plan was developed over 2022-2024 and $4.8 million was secured from the Australian Government Saving Native Species Program and the SA Government Landscape Priority Fund. The project partners seek to achieve eradication of the introduced pest species that impact the native biodiversity and prepare for the successful reintroduction of threatened species.
This project is jointly funded by the Australian Government, the South Australian Department for Environment and Water and the Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board in partnership with the Woolford family. Our funding for the project comes from the Landscape Priorities Fund which enables regional landscape boards to invest in large projects.
Supporting the creation of an EP safe haven
Effective biosecurity helps prevent the transport of exotic animals, plants, insects and seeds to Flinders Island in personal luggage or freight. Biosecurity is a shared responsibility – each person travelling to Flinders Island plays a crucial role in managing the biosecurity risk their trip poses and must meet certain expectations or obligations.
The simple steps that you take make all the difference. All visitors, contractors and staff are required to follow biosecurity procedures as detailed on the Flinders Island Eco Escape site and summarised below.
Pre-departure requirements
Preventing pests making their way to the Island is the first, and most effective step in the biosecurity chain. If arriving by plane, boat or barge, be sure to check the correct procedure for packing to avoid bringing unwanted rodents and pests.
- Contact the Woolford’s if you are planning a trip BEFORE you leave the mainland.
- Check – Your luggage and personal items for pests and organic matter. You must review and go through the biosecurity checklists as your packing for your trip. Check all your luggage, especially any items which usually live in a shed/garage (like surfboard bags, deck chairs, beach tents, BBQ covers, or hiking and camping equipment) – these make a great home for a pest. Document your checks using photos and signing the biosecurity checklist.
- Clean – Your footwear, outdoor clothes and equipment, and personal items from any organic matter. Check each individual item and insides of pockets and velcro for any attached soil or pests.
- Close – After checking and cleaning your gear, ensure your bags are fully and securely closed, and stored indoors in a clean area and raised off the floor e.g. the kitchen table. This prevents pests entering after inspection.
- Report - Any suspected pest sighting or sign (scat, chew marks, carcass, etc) observed during your visit to on the island or on board your vessel throughout your trip, must be reported to the Woolford’s immediately to ensure appropriate procedures can be put in place.
Biosecurity for the island is the responsibility of everyone who visits the island. Following these simple steps will make all the difference to the project success.
News and resources
- Flinders Island Eco Escape website
- Media release announcing the project (Feb 2025)
- Creating an island safe haven for threatened species (article in Environment SA News - Feb 2025)
- Guidelines for visiting the island
- Project factsheet
- News item about on-ground pest control works beginning (May 2025)
- Watch a reel showing the bait drop via helicopter (June 2025)
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