Spoon-billed Sandpiper, here photographed at Pak Thale, Petchaburi, Thailand, should benefit form the declaration of the new IBA at Sonadia Island in Bangladesh.
Sonadia Island in Bangladesh, where 10 per cent of the wintering population of the Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper can be found, has been recognised as Bangladesh’s 20th Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International.
Important Bird Areas are sites that contain globally important bird habitats, and are identified by BirdLife International as key areas to conserve and attract sustainable practice and investment. Usually IBAs are already part of a country’s nature reserve network and are thus generally, though not always, protected by law.
“A series of recent surveys confirms that Bangladesh is still an extremely important wintering ground for Spoon-billed Sandpiper, and we identified Sonadia Island as the main site in Bangladesh”, said Sayam U Chowdhury, Principal Investigator of the Bangladesh Spoon-billed Sandpiper Conservation Project, a group of young conservationists who monitor wader populations and work with local communities to raise awareness and reduce threats.
Sonadia Island also supports the globally Endangered Spotted Greenshank and other threatened and Near Threatened birds such as Great Knot, Asian Dowitcher, Eurasian Curlew and Black-tailed Godwit.
BirdLife Partners and others involved in the ‘Saving the Spoon-billed Sandpiper’ project have been working at Sonadia since 2009, when hunting of waders on the mudflats was identified as a major threat to the species’ fast-diminishing population. Local hunters have now been trained and equipped for alternative, more secure and sustainable livelihoods. A very successful campaign has led to a better understanding of the importance of shorebird conservation in general, and a sense of pride and custodianship towards the Spoon-billed Sandpiper in particular.
“The work has gone extremely well and we are really trying to deliver conservation through the local communities,” said Chowdhury. “Through the provision of alternative livelihoods we have seen hunting reduced to almost zero. Hunters are now working as fisherman, tailors and watermelon producers. An awareness-raising event we held in December 2012 involved close to a thousand people, as well as local government and non-governmental organisation representatives.”
Inamul Haque is Assistant Conservator of Forest (Coastal) for Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar region, and has been involved in the restoration of mangrove cover on Sonadia. “We have been supporting the Bangladesh Spoon-billed Sandpiper Conservation Project by avoiding mangrove planting in areas that are important for shorebirds”, he explained. “We have also been protecting the key sites from illegal hunting. I am delighted that Sonadia is receiving the international recognition it deserves by being declared an Important Bird Area.”
While Sonadia Island is not officially protected as yet, it is hoped that its new IBA status and international recognition will attract both more attention from visitors and highlight the site’s importance to the Bangladeshi government.
Source: birdwatch