Healthy flyway wetlands ARE OUR life support systems
Along with sustaining migratory birds, wetlands along Asia's great flyways are also essential for human wellbeing and survival, inclusive economic growth, and climate mitigation and adaptation. They protect shorelines, help to make cities and settlements safe and resilient from floods, and are important natural carbon stores. Thus, protecting wetlands to stop the rapid decline in migratory bird populations will also increase resilience for communities and cities.
Marvellous migratory birds
Bird enthusiasts and naturalists across the world follow the migrations, and flock to Asian wetlands to watch, monitor, and appreciate this spectacle. Some of the iconic birds include several species of cranes and storks that are etched into Asian culture and spiritual beliefs, and much smaller birds such as the various species of curlews, knots, sandpipers, and ducks that undertake a task that seems amazingly out of proportion to their size. For instance, the Red Knot, a small bird with a wingspan of just about 20 inches travels southwards from the Arctic Circle to Australia over the Pacific, flying for up to a week without stopping to rest or feed, only to repeat this feat in the spring as it returns to its northern breeding grounds.
Are we witness to the demise of the flyways?
Unfortunately, the persistence of migrations and the ecological functionality of the Asia flyways are in great and imminent danger. The stop-over habitats, breeding grounds and the over-wintering wetlands the migrating birds rely on are being rapidly drained and filled for urban, industrial, and agricultural uses, preventing the birds from reaching their eventual destinations. We are already witnessing the impacts; over 60% of the waterbird populations in Asia are now showing signs of declining or have gone extinct in just over two decades. Many of the bird species are listed as threatened and endangered. Thus, conservation actions to secure, restore, and manage wetlands are urgently needed, along with population recovery plans for several bird species that are in severe decline.
The global climate crisis
The global climate crisis is now affecting both coastal and inland wetlands. Coastal wetlands are vulnerable to sea level rise and will be susceptible to storm surges and buffeting by the more frequent and stronger storms manifested due to climate change, changing the ecological conditions of important breeding, staging and over-wintering areas. The climate crisis will also make human communities and infrastructure more vulnerable as coastal erosion, wave surges, and floods batter coasts. Coastal wetlands are natural barriers to the storms and wave surges and protect coasts and coastal communities. Under natural succession there will be opportunities for wetlands to migrate inland with sea level rise and maintain a dynamic buffer, if the immediate inland areas are not developed and converted to infrastructure and settled. Thus, climate adaptive, forward-looking land-use planning is needed to prevent conversion of coastal habitats.
Why do we need an Asian Flyway Initiative?
There are several international and national stakeholders and other actors that focus on birds and bird migrations or on water-related issues. But the flyways are about both; the birds require the wetlands as stepping stone corridors and people need the ecosystem services from the wetlands for survival. Linking these two areas of action can provide a stronger argument and tangible indicators of conservation success. This Asian Flyway Initiative is intended to play this role of coordinating among the various organizations and stakeholders to ensure that the avian migratory flyways are conserved as landscapes, with ecologically connected stepping-stone corridors that sustains the long-distance seasonal bird migrations, and the wetlands are managed for nature and people.
Our Vision
Our Goal
The initiative will address the strategic priorities and support achievement of the goal through the following outcomes that will be measured by the respective indicators:
Outcome 1. By 2030, ecologically connected networks of wetlands efficaciously managed to ensure functionality of the Asian flyways.
Outcome 2. By 2030, migratory bird populations are stable or increasing in both flyways.
Outcome 3. By 2030, millions of bird watchers, mobilized as citizen scientists, monitor bird populations and are advocates supporting wetland conservation.
Check out this video explaining in details the Flyways issues. The video was created by one of our partners, the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF). The East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership is a network of partners within the EAAF. The EAAFP aims to protect migratory waterbirds, their habitat and the livelihoods of people dependent upon them. As a Partner of EAAFP, WWF shares the same view with EAAFP and the two organizations, together with the rest of 36 partners, will cooperate to ensure an ecologically connected network of wetlands that support the long-term survival of migratory waterbird populations.
WWF offices across flyway countries in the Asia Pacific region have proposed a series of projects that will help us reach our goal of creating a network of connected, healthy wetlands for the benefit of migratory birds and people.
To support these projects, WWF offices in Asia Pacific are coming together to raise USD 20 million to save migratory birds, wetlands they rely on and everything else in between.
If you are intrested to join, please out to Jessie Schwartz at jschwartz@wwfint.org.
