About Shorebirds 2020

Shorebirds 2020

National Shorebird Population Monitoring Program

There is increasing evidence that migratory shorebird populations throughout the world are declining. Shorebirds using the East-Asian Australasian Flyway are under threat from widespread habitat destruction, especially prevalent at staging areas in East Asia. In order to conserve them it is critical that we understand what factors are impacting shorebird populations, and define how much of an impact different activities throughout the Flyway are having. As home to many visiting migratory shorebird species, Australia is well placed to uncover significant population changes by implementing a comprehensive monitoring program.

THE SHOREBIRDS 2020 program aims to reinvigorate and coordinate national shorebird population monitoring in Australia — to report on the population trends of shorebirds in Australia with greater confidence than has been possible in the past, and to further identify what factors are driving those changes — in order to support the conservation and effective management of shorebirds and their habitats.

Shorebirds 2020 is a collaborative enterprise between Birds Australia, The Australasian Wader Studies Group (AWSG), WWF-Australia and the Australian Government.

Objectives

The primary objectives of the Shorebirds 2020 program are to collect data on the numbers of shorebirds, in a manner that:

• will be utilised to aid conservation and management of shorebirds
• encompasses long- and short-term population trends
• seeks to understand the relationship between habitat quality and threats to the distribution and abundance of shorebirds
• increase the number of volunteers involved in shorebird monitoring
• improve counting methods and counter training
• increase the number and geographic representation of regularly monitored sites
• conduct scientific analysis and reporting of shorebird population trends.

The challenge

More thorough and accurate counts are needed to be able to reliably detect population trends. In order to be able to detect a 30% decline over 25 years or better in a species:

• Need to survey, at a minimum, the 30 most important sites for each species
• Adds up to over 150 [priority sites] nationally
• Surveys need to continue on an annual or more regular basis for a minimum of 5 years to begin to form a clearer picture of shorebird population trends
• Important that surveys are conducted in exactly the same way each time for comparison & analysis
• Collecting information on disturbances, threats and habitat changes is vital to understanding the causes of population changes at sites
• During the summer 2008/09 counts over 500 volunteers counted shorebirds at over 150 sites nationally, a good number of which were priority sites. This is a tremendous effort. The challenge in the future will be to maintain and further improve on this effort.

To get involved

Contact the Shorebirds 2020 team at Birds Australia or the shorebird site contact in your local area. Happy counting!

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