Visitors to a popular Invercargill beach are being urged to treat it with care and preserve it for future generations.

Four-wheel drives and motorbikes are damaging the sand dunes at Oreti Beach.

People are also leaving rubbish behind, while drivers are doing wheelies and skids at the high tide mark where young toheroa live.

DOC, police, the local council and iwi have launched a campaign calling for people to clean up their act.

Councillor Alan Dennis says if the public can alleviate the issues now, they won't have to close the beach.

The local iwi says there are only four beaches that have a population of toheroa and preserving it is of national importance.