© EAAFP
Spike Millington, EAAFP Chief Executive, attended the signing of the MOU between the Chinese State Forestry Administration and WWF-China at Chongmin Dongtan nature reserve on 26 October 2015 for cooperation on migratory waterbirds and their habitats.
© EAAFP
The WWF-China Flyways program is supported by WWF-Netherlands and the King of the Netherlands was present to witness the signature and make some remarks. The program will focus on conservation of coastal wetlands in China, improve cooperation in monitoring and highlight public awareness, including campaigns, such as “Come Fly with Me”.
Chongming Dongtan Nature Reserve © EAAFP
Spike gave a presentation on conserving migratory waterbirds and their habitats in China and the Flyway. The following day was a field trip to Tiaozini and Xiaoyankou, critical sites for Spoon-billed Sandpiper and Nordmann’s Greenshank. Huge posters at Tiaozini showed the extent of planned reclamation of the area. At Xiaoyankou, huge swathes of invasive Spartina covered the mudflats. These indicate the immensity of the challenge to conserve these sites. Theunis Piersma of the University of Groningen gave a presentation indicating that “in 10 years, the status of Red Knot will be the same as Spoon-billed Sandpiper 10 years ago.” This is based on current survival rates. They discussed a targeted research and monitoring program for shorebirds in China, as well as awareness-raising programs through tracking of shorebirds.
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- WWF and China State Forest Administration’s MoU highlighted coastal wetland protection
