“Migratory bird populations in Asia are crashing as Yellow Sea habitat dwindles.”

Published in the 9 October issue of Science Magazine, the article “Hostile Shores” (Christina Larson. Science, 9 October 2015: 150-152.) highlights the importance of the Yellow Sea area for migratory waterbirds reviewing recently published scientific articles and expert opinion. The article outlines crashing bird populations across the Flyway, including the critical decline of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper, brought upon by the loss of between 50 and 80% of coastal wetlands to development in the region, over the last five decades. Saving long-distance migratory shorebirds demands the preservation of the few remaining mudflats in the Yellow Sea region, focussing on the most important sites, such as Rudong and Bohai Bay.

The full article is available on the Author’s webpage here, and the Chinese translation is available here.

‘01’ striding confidently forward in Yankiau, Rudong @ B. Scampion