Government and non-government members of the East Asian–Australasian Flyway Partnership (http://www.eaaflyway.net) gathered in Palembang, Indonesia, in March 2012 to discuss the conservation actions required to keep one of the world's largest and most threatened migratory bird flyways functioning. The Partnership is a collaboration among 14 governments across the region, together with three intergovernmental agencies, nine international NGOs and an international corporation (Rio Tinto). At this 6th Meeting of Partners more than 100 participants attended the main meeting and its related events, including technical workshops on shorebirds, seabirds and cranes.
The East Asian–Australasian Flyway supports >200 species of migratory waterbirds, ranging from non-breeding and migration areas in Australia and New Zealand through South-East and East Asia to breeding areas in the Russian and Alaskan Arctic. The meeting heard reports of alarming declines in migratory species across the Flyway. Two formerly abundant migratory species (great knot and eastern curlew) have recently been categorized as globally threatened and several others are on the brink of extinction. For example, there are reports that the highly threatened spoon-billed sandpiper Eurynorchynchus pygmeus is declining throughout its range. This species migrates from breeding grounds in the Russian north-east to non-breeding grounds in East and South Asia, where hunting and the development of intertidal habitats are thought to be key drivers of population declines. Fewer than 220 breeding pairs persist in the wild (Bird Conservation International, 20, 95–111).
With almost 45% of the world's human population living in the region and myriad local and regional threats confronting migratory birds, the state of the Flyway is grim. Unfortunately, detailed data on habitat change are sparse but there is evidence emerging of an unfolding crisis that demands urgent attention. Estimates of coastal wetland losses in countries around the Flyway range from 20 to 75% in the past 50 years (Ambio, 36, 335–342; Coastal Management, 31, 99–119), and 21% of freshwater wetlands have been lost in China alone (Nature, 435, 1179–1186). Large-scale reclamation projects, such as the 400 km2 Saemangeum project in the Republic of Korea, have swiftly transformed many coastlines along the Flyway to urban, agricultural and industrial land.
Despite the strong focus on habitat loss as a cause of rising extinction risk in the Flyway, delegates also identified pollution, human disturbance and hunting as important threats to migratory species. Some estimates put the number of migratory birds captured and killed annually for human consumption in the Flyway at 60,000, with such harvesting being particularly prevalent in Indonesia and Myanmar. Aquaculture directly competes with migratory bird habitat, and production in Asia accounts for c. 89% of the global market (FAO, 2012, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture, http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/i2727e/i2727e00.htm). Declining sediment outputs from Asia's major rivers have reduced the accretion of tidal flats in recent decades; the Yellow River, for example, is now one of the most heavily affected waterways in the world (Nature Geoscience, 2, 681–686).
Although the scale of the task is enormous, progress is being made to conserve key sites along the Flyway. During the meeting Indonesia announced that Sembilang National Park would become the 108th Flyway Network Site listed by the Partnership, signalling a collective commitment to conserving important sites for migratory species. While the Partnership still lacks a formal conservation prioritization, many of the listed sites are implementing conservation management. The sharing of expertise across the Flyway has enabled the identification and control of specific threats, such as the invasion of introduced plant species (e.g. Sonneratia caseolaris) at Mai Po Inner Deep Bay in Hong Kong. Recently the IUCN commissioned a situation analysis of the patterns and drivers of intertidal habitat loss in the Flyway. The report highlights the risk to humanity and biodiversity of a continued trajectory of coastal habitat loss in the region and recommended a full scale ecosystem service analysis. The topic will be raised at the World Conservation Congress to be held in Korea in September 2012.
We remain deeply concerned at the scale and rate of coastal habitat loss throughout the East Asian–Australasian Flyway. But with a diverse group of members and technical advisers, and with the goal of continued collaboration between partners, the Partnership is working for conservation of migratory birds and their habitats in the Flyway.
