The Department of Conservation (Doc) is calling for the public's help to protect the nests of rare birds at two Tucker Beach reserves.
It has installed temporary signs at the area's recreation reserve, at the end of Tucker Beach Rd, and the wildlife management reserve about 1.5km away in a bend of the Shotover River.
The signs, which will remain in place until the end of January, are aimed at raising awareness of three species of braided river birds that will soon begin nesting in the area.
Banded dotterel, black fronted terns and the world's most endangered gull the black billed gull - are classified as either nationally endangered or critical.
Doc Wakatipu operations manager Geoff Owen said the wildlife management reserve was one of the last few nesting sites for those species in the Wakatipu.
Over many years it had been degraded by the illegal dumping of rubbish, uncontrolled dogs, backpackers and vehicles driving through the nesting areas.
With residential development creeping closer, Doc wanted to improve the birds' habitat and enhance the reserve as a valuable ``green space'' for Queenstown residents.
But that would require visitors to treat the area differently from before, when it was relatively remote.
They needed to act more responsibly, particularly in the way they managed their dogs and drove their vehicles.
Doc wanted the reserve to become a ``stronghold'' for the birds, from which they could expand their populations.
The birds were now wintering in coastal areas and, in the case of the banded dotterel, would be flying back from southeast Australia.
They would begin nesting from early next month and October, and the first chicks would hatch in November.
