Patricia Zurita CEO of BirdLife International, a global conservation organization
Travel overview
black-tailed godwit
A race against the clock
Spoon-billed sandpiper
The spoon-billed sandpiper, a small shorebird with a black beak like a spatula, shows the impact this can have on a species. Tumbling on the brink of extinction, there are fewer than 800 spoon-billed sandpipers left in the world.
Spoon-billed sandpiper has declined dramatically in northeastern Russia
Population estimates of pairs of spoon-billed sandpipers between 2003 and 2021 in the Meinypilgyno region of Russia.
Source: Spoon-billed Sandpiper Task Force
They breed in northeastern Russia and winter in Southeast Asia, refueling along the way at locations on the Yellow Sea. One such site is Saemangeum, in South Korea, where more than 100 spoonbills (as they are affectionately known) gather each year, according to a 2016 report on the decline of shorebirds.
But in the 1990s, construction began on a 33-kilometer-long seawall across the mudflats, which was completed in 2006, and much of the area is still being converted to agricultural or industrial land.
Since then, only a handful of spoon-billed sandpipers have been spotted there, said Nial Moores, director of Birds Korea.
Construction of the Saemangeum Seawall began in 1991 and changed the nature of the Wadden Sea
But conservation can and does make a difference
Spoonbill with black head
Take the black-faced spoonbill, a large, white wading bird found only in East Asia, with a long spoon-like bill that it scrapes along the shallows in search of food.
The population reached its lowest point in the 1990s, with only a few hundred birds left. But by protecting nesting sites and restoring breeding and wintering areas, the species has regained its numbers.
In 2022, more than 6,000 black-headed spoonbills were recorded.
The number of black-faced spoonbills has been restored
World population of black-headed spoonbills.
Source: Hong Kong Bird Watching Society
Patricia Zurita CEO of BirdLife International, a global conservation organization
Zurita hopes the Regional Flyway Initiative will help restore both birds and biodiversity.
First, it plans to focus on restoring 50 of the most critical wetlands along the route. While these locations are still being determined, BirdLife has mapped out a long list of potential sites — many of which are centered on the Yellow Sea.
Potential Sites of the Regional Flyway Initiative
- East Asian-Australian flight path
- Potential Initiative Sites
Source: BirdLife International
Patricia Zurita CEO of BirdLife International, a global conservation organization
Patricia Zurita CEO of BirdLife International, a global conservation organization
A pilot project in China’s Yancheng Wetlands demonstrates the potential scale of success. The area had been badly affected by urbanization and pollution, but the creation of nature reserves and forest farms has now restored more than 45 square kilometers of wetlands, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Waterfowl numbers have skyrocketed as a result, with one reserve registering more than three times the number of birds at the site in 2018 compared to two years earlier, and nearly 3,000 jobs have been created in ecotourism, sustainable fishing and agriculture, the bank says. In 2019, the Yancheng Wetlands were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site – a prestigious title that will help further protect the area.
But there are still challenges. The mission relies on the support of governments from more than 22 countries – many with different languages, cultures and political situations – and ongoing funding from both public and private donors.
This is where the ADB comes in. A huge institution accustomed to lending for major infrastructure projects, such as railways or power plants, has relationships with finance ministries across the continent.
“Our goal in this project is to connect those ministries and convince them to invest in nature,” said Duncan Lang, senior environmental specialist at the ADB.
There is an economic incentive for governments, he adds. Wetlands act as natural sponges, protect areas from flooding and storm surges, and are carbon sinks. “The money they invest is repaid by the money they don’t have to pay on storm damage,” and potential carbon savings can contribute to a country’s climate promises, Lang says.
By showing that conservation can make financial sense, Zurita believes this initiative can become a blueprint for conservation around the world. She says BirdLife has already attracted interest from development banks on other continents looking to protect their flight paths.
Birds fly from pole to pole over every continent on Earth. They are seen as the proverbial “canary in the coal mine” – indicators of ecological health. And their decline sends a message that the natural world is in danger.
Protecting their flight paths could help preserve ecosystems across the planet.
Patricia Zurita CEO of BirdLife International, a global conservation organization
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