More updated news on Rudong. A survey by 15 waterbird foreign and Chinese experts conducted from October 15th-19th along 120km of coastline between Dongtai and Rudong, Jiangsu Province, found 140 Spoon-billed Sandpiper, 1200 Nordmann’s Greenshank.
與勺嘴鷸工作組的董文曉及 Christoph Zöckler博士一起推行是次普查及工作坊的「勺嘴鷸在中國」保育小組負責人李靜指出：「我們的調查證實了如東的潮間帶濕地是勺嘴鷸整個8000 公里遷徒路線中最關鍵的中途補給站。保護這些國際重要潮間帶濕地不單對保育勺嘴鷸的存活極為重要，同時亦對維持貝類養殖業及其他需要潮汐泥灘的行業起了重要作用。我們迫切地需要在中國推行更多保育措施，以防止勺嘴鷸及其他依賴泥灘的物種面臨滅絕。」
「英國鳥類學信託基金會」的Nigel Clark 博士補充說：「我們相信全球的成年勺嘴鷸及小青腳鷸族群，均會以如東沿岸這些高生產力的潮間帶作中途補給站。」Nigel Clark 博士並強調這些濕地對這兩個鳥種的生存非常重要。
Global Importance of China’s tidal-flats for Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper Recognised
Partnership for the East Asian-Australasian Flyway | migratory waterbird conservation:
Partnership News http://eaaflyway.net/partnership-news.php
Shanghai, (Seoul, Tokyo, Moscow, London, Berlin, Denver) 29 October 2013
A survey of the Chinese coastline by the conservation network “SBS in China” supported by 15 waterbird experts from the international Spoon-billed Sandpiper (SBS) Task Force (1) confirms the outstanding international conservation importance of intertidal wetlands in Jiangsu Province.
The survey, conducted from October 15th-19th along 120km of coastline between Dongtai and Rudong, Jiangsu Province, found 140 Spoon-billed Sandpiper, 1200 Nordmann’s Greenshank and “internationally important concentrations” of several other waterbird species as defined by the intergovernmental Ramsar Convention on wetlands (2).
This is the largest number of the fast-declining Spoon-billed Sandpiper found anywhere in the world since 2008, when it was designated as a globally Critically Endangered species (3). It is also the largest ever count of the globally Endangered Nordmann’s Greenshank. Both species are ecologically dependent on the most naturally-productive and healthy intertidal wetlands, during migration especially in the Yellow Sea.
Although waterbirds were found along the whole Jiangsu coast, the largest concentrations were found in three key areas: Dongtai (Jianggang) in Yancheng County and Yangkou, Feng Li and Dongling in Rudong County.
Many of the most important intertidal wetlands along the Jiangsu coast are threatened by continuing reclamation for agricultural and industrial development. However, local and provincial authorities now recognise the international importance of the area and announced the creation of one new protected area for spoon-billed sandpiper, together with two more existing shellfish and fishery protected areas at a workshop that immediately followed the survey. These sites overlap with most of the wader feeding areas and it is hoped that they will eventually achieve protection at provincial and national level.
“Our surveys confirm the intertidal wetlands of Rudong as the most important remaining stopover site for the Spoon-billed Sandpiper during its entire 8000km long migration route. Protecting these internationally important intertidal wetlands is vital for the sandpiper’s survival, and also for the maintenance of the shellfishery and other vital services provided by tidal-flats. We urgently need more conservation action in China to prevent this and other tidal-flat species from going extinct.” stated Jing Li (Coordinator of SBS in China), who organised the surveys and workshop with Tong Menxiu and Dr Christoph Zöckler of the SBS Task Force.
“We believe the entire world population of the adults of both Spoon-billed Sandpiper and Nordmannn’s Greenshank are staging at the highly productive intertidal flats on the coast of Rudong” added Dr Nigel Clark from BTO in the UK, highlighting its importance for the survival of both species.
The survey was followed by a two-day workshop (4) co-hosted by the Rudong government, Jiangsu Province and the Spoon-billed Sandpiper Task Force. Workshop participants were encouraged by the commitment of local and provincial government to stop illegal hunting along the coast and to designate a protected area for the Spoon-billed Sandpiper. Local and national NGOs assisted in the workshop and WWF Hong Kong and the Paulson Institute in particular announced their interest and assistance in collaborating with the local government and SBS in China to conserve the crucial tidal flats.
‘This is a historic moment in the conservation of the species’ stated Dr Christoph Zöckler of the SBS Task Force. ‘For the first time since our efforts to conserve the species began in 2000, we can realistically hope that with the continuing commitment of the local and provincial government and leadership from national authorities and NGOs in China that we can indeed turn the tide – and save the species from extinction’
As part of this work, Prof. Chang Qing, of Nanjing Normal University, who advises the Forest Department of the Jiangsu Province on environmental issues stated: ‘We now hope to create a working group of local government and NGOs that involves all stakeholders in the future planning of wetland reserves and their management.’
‘I am very pleased to see so many Spoon-billed Sandpiper here in Rudong concluded Dr Evgeny Syroechkovskiy of the Russian Ministry for Natural Resources, SBS Task Force Chair. He added: ‘We hope that these vital sites can be protected for the future. I will encourage my ministry to include both Spoon-billed Sandpiper and Nordmann’s Greenshank, which breed exclusively in Russia, into the recently signed bilateral agreement on migratory bird conservation between China and Russia.’
(1) The international Spoon-billed Sandpiper Task Force is set up under the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership to implement conservation measures to reverse the declines in the Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper, a small sandpiper with a uniquely shaped bill that nests in the Russian Arctic, and migrates through Eastern Asia to winter in Southern and SE Asia
