The EAAFP’s Shorebird Working Group (SWG) was established to promote, facilitate, and coordinate shorebird conservation, management, education and research activities within the EAAF and to improve communication between shorebird specialists and managers in the flyway. On 27th April, 2023, the SWG conducted its first Core Team meeting (virtually). This meeting was the first get-together for the acting Core Team since the SWG met at the 11th Meeting of the Partners (MOP) of the EAAF in Brisbane, Australia, on 12 March 2023.
David Li, the newly elected Chair of the SWG, first introduced the current acting Core Team members, including 5 representatives of EAAFP partners, 1 representative from the EAAFP Secretariat and 4 invited members. The seven acting Core Team members who participated in the inaugural online meeting are shown in the photo below, including (left to right, top to bottom) Mark Carey, Ginny Chan, David Li, Katherine Leung, Yifei Jia and Chen Qing for Yin Yu Zhu. Not shown in the photo is Chris Hassell. Several members could not attend, including Rick Lanctot, Phil Straw and Micha Jackson.
Core Team of EAAFP Shorebird Working Group (left to right, top to bottom: Mark Carey, Ginny Chan, David Li, Katherine Leung, Yifei Jia and Chen Qing)
The 2.5-hour meeting included an introduction of the acting Core Team, a discussion of the Work Plan and roles of the Core Team members, proposed revision of the SWG Terms of Reference (TOR), and a decision to hold an all-members meeting on 31 August GMT 6-9 am. Prior to the meeting, the acting Core Team members completed a questionnaire about the proposed Work Plan for the EAAF Partnership’s Shorebird Working Group, 2023-2025. The questionnaire provided their preliminary opinion on priority actions and the role of the SWG, the importance and urgency of each listed item, and what items the Core Team members were interested in and willing to lead. Based on the results of this questionnaire, in the coming 2 years, the Core Team decided to focus primarily on these 4 areas:
- To support the identification of important areas and promote monitoring of migratory shorebirds,
- To support conservation of shorebird species and their habitats,
- To support capacity building and promote science for shorebird conservation and management, and
- To enhance communication-related to shorebird conservation.
The Shorebird Working Group’s TOR was also revised to reflect recent changes in the structure and function of the SWG as agreed at the SWG meeting at the 11th MOP of the EAAF. The acting Core Team agreed to hold an online meeting for all SWG members on 31 August 2023 to request full endorsement of the TOR, the members of the Core Team, and the Work Plan and roles proposed by the acting Core Team members.
The Core Team meeting concluded with a fruitful discussion on the next steps before the next Core Team meeting planned for the end of June. It allowed participants to share knowledge and experiences, plan for future conservation efforts, and build an effective mechanism to support the group’s work.
Learn more about EAAFP Shorebird Working Group: https://www.eaaflyway.net/shorebird-working-group/
