A Northland iwi wants to build fences along the entire length of Ninety Mile Beach to stop vehicles going onto the dunes.
They've already begun building the blockade and are calling on other iwi to help them extend it.
The endless slopes of the beach in the Far North make it a perfect spot for off-roading, but these new fences could soon put a stop to that.
Te Takiwa o Ahipara spokesman Haami Piripi says "it's fair to say that we're on a path now to continuous improvement".
"At the end of that path will involve no vehicle access along the sand dunes, I'm afraid."
Te Rarawa iwi has begun erecting fences along parts of the beach to stop vehicles - mainly dirt bikes and 4WDs - going on to the dunes.
Mr Piripi says the reckless behaviour of 50 to 60 mainly out-of-towners that "swarm" the area during the summer months is wrecking the place.
"It may not look significant as each bike travels over the dune, but over time and with numbers it does become a significant event."
So far the iwi has built a fence near Ahipara at the southern end of Ninety Mile Beach, and wants to extend it all the way up.
"Eventually it's our hope that all the iwi will agree to fence the entire beach in terms of the reserve land that we own alongside it," Mr Piripi says.
In the meantime, Te Rarawa will continue building fences along sections of land they own that border the dunes.
Priority will be given to blocking areas near reserves and sites that are environmentally and culturally significant. Whale bones have been buried at this site.
A local businessman who takes quad bike tours along Ninety Mile Beach says larger vehicles speeding along the dunes are the biggest worry.
"think they're mostly turning a blind eye, but sooner or later somebody is going to get badly injured or something like that - and then it may get a better looked at situation with those type of vehicles," Malcolm Ramsay says.
But tourism operators don't want the iwi to stop organised groups using the dunes, and say they might look after those operators that are safe and look after the environment.
"The test will come when all the visitors come in with their bikes and want to go to places they can't go to," Mr Piripi says.
The iwi says there are no plans to stop vehicles going along the shore or anyone going dune-surfing by foot.
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