Emergency signal for migratory shorebirds populations

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has placed 16 shorebird species to higher threat categories in its recent revision of Red List. In fact, the situation for some species is considered extremely worrying, with recorded declines of more than a third of their population.

The shorebirds that are now at risk include species that occur in or pass through our country, such as the Grey Plover, the Dunlin, the Curlew Sandpiper and the Ruddy Turnstone. These species - like millions of other migratory birds - follow specific routes known as flyways and cross numerous countries each year, often stopping to rest and feed.  This makes them especially at risk from threats like habitat degradation and loss as well as climate change.

 
 
Science has confirmed the serious impacts of the loss of wildlife species, especially birds, whose conservation status is a good indicator of the state of nature. With one in eight bird species threatened with extinction and 60% of bird species in decline globally, diminishing migratory bird populations signal ecosystems in crisis.

“The decline of migratory birds, which connect people across countries and continents, is a powerful symbol of how we are currently failing. This must be the catalyst for governments to back up commitments made two years ago with meaningful action to reverse the catastrophic declines in species populations. This means more action to bolster efforts to recover threatened species, more action to protect and restore more land, freshwater and sea, and more action to transform our food, energy and industrial systems – backed up by the necessary funding”, said Martin Harper, CEO of BirdLife International.   

 

Even more worrying is the fact that, until recently, shorebirds were not often considered to be in high-risk categories, like the vultures or the seabirds.  Shorebirds, often seen darting along beaches or feeding on mudflats, are a familiar sight all over the world, including Greece. However, the rate of decline is accelerating, underlining the urgent need for research to diagnose the causes and coordinated conservation action to address them.

"The degradation, fragmentation and loss of habitats essential for the survival of migratory birds could have severe consequences for the millions of people that rely on these sites, as well as the birds. If we further delay galvanizing action to protect and restore them, we are pushing tens if not hundreds of wildlife species to the brink of extinction, which puts our own survival at risk," said Konstantina Ntemiri, Director of the Hellenic Ornithological Society, national partner of BirdLife International.

Just a few weeks after the IUCN 's publication, it was officially announced that the Slender-billed Curlew, a migratory shorebird that once was breeding in western Siberia and wintered in the Mediterranean (incuding our country), is now considered to be EXTINCT according to scientists. This is the first worldwide known extinction of a bird species from continental Europe, North Africa and West Asia.