Spoonbills Pull Back from Extinction
by Thomas Gomersall
For years, the black-faced spoonbill (Platalea minor) has been among some of the best-known endangered species in Hong Kong, as well as a flagship species for Mai Po Nature Reserve’s wetland conservation efforts. But new research suggests that its days of being endangered may soon be over.
According to the latest data from an annual census coordinated by the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society (HKBWS) and other international partners, the global population of black-faced spoonbills has increased by 13 per cent since 2018 to 4,463 birds in 2019. While the species’ numbers have been increasing by an average of nine per cent annually since records began in 1994, this latest increase is particularly significant as it suggests that its population may now be high enough to downgrade on the IUCN Red List from Endangered to Vulnerable. Though the reclassification is not yet certain, HKBWS research manager Yu Yat-tung, who was involved in the census, is very optimistic it will happen.
“I think it is quite likely because when we talk about other species that could be endangered or vulnerable, one factor is how high their population is,” he says. “If their population is above 1,000, it can be considered vulnerable. The black-faced spoonbill is well over that number.”
It’s an achievement that Hong Kong should take particular pride in, as between the mid-1990s and 2000, Mai Po Nature Reserve was one of the only government-designated protected areas in the spoonbill’s range (the other being Taiwan’s Cigu wetlands), making it instrumental to the bird’s eventual recovery. Since then, studies of migration routes and resting sites, coupled with education programmes have led to widespread public support for spoonbill conservation and pressure on the governments of countries within their range to designate protected areas for them. Indeed, some countries have really taken their welfare to heart.
“Korean people do many things to protect the black-faced spoonbill,” says Yat-tung. “They list this species as a national monument, meaning it has the highest level of protection. […] That’s why the spoonbills can have a safe place there to rear their babies and raise their population.”
Despite a sustained population growth over the last couple of decades, experts were reluctant to downgrade the black-faced spoonbill’s IUCN listing due to concerns about the prospects of its habitat. Dependent on coastal mudflats and wetlands for its survival, the spoonbill’s long-term viability may be threatened by coastal development in Asia. But last year, the Chinese government announced that it would halt all but the most essential coastal reclamation projects and remove the power of local authorities to approve new ones. (Townshend, 2018).
The decision means more spoonbill habitats will be protected from development. However, it remains to be seen whether this will translate into better protection and management. Yat-tung is uncertain this will happen, or of the quality of the remaining habitats. “I haven’t been to most of the sites, so I’m unsure” he says. “If I could, we could have a better assessment of the situation.”
However, he adds that the increase in their numbers suggests that black-faced spoonbills are adapting to the changes to their habitat or finding ways to survive in spite of them. And if the trend continues in the not-too distant future, this species may be removed from the endangered list and become one of the greatest conservation success stories along the East-Asia-Australasian Flyway.
References
· Townshend, T., ‘Great news for shorebirds! China to halt coastal land reclamation’, BirdLife International, 23 January, 2018, https://www.birdlife.org/worldwide/news/great-news-shorebirds-china-halt-coastal-land-reclamation, (accessed 12 April 2019)
· Yat-tung, Y., interviewed by Thomas Gomersall, 2019, Hong Kong Birdwatching Society.
