This document constitutes the approved NSW State Recovery Plan for the little tern (Sterna albifrons) and, as such, considers the conservation requirements of the species across its known range. It identifies actions to be undertaken to ensure the long-term viability of the species in nature and the parties who will undertake these actions.
Prior to management, the little tern had undergone a decline in abundance across coastal NSW. The population had declined chiefly because of its poor breeding success, which had resulted from a combination of natural and human-related factors.
The little tern is an exclusively coastal species and the smallest Australian representative of the family Laridae (gulls and terns).
This Recovery Plan is concerned with the management and recovery of the south-eastern Australian population of the little tern subspecies sinensis which migrates down the east coast of Australia during spring-summer to nest as solitary pairs or in colonies.
