The single biggest threat to bird life, indeed to all life and biodiversity, is habitat loss. It is a fact that is not lost on most people, even those who seek to reduce or destroy critical habitat. Some of the most critically threatened habitat worldwide is wetlands, the marshes, tidal flats, and estuaries. For far too long in our brief history here on earth, we failed to see the importance of the wet places around us. And as events such as Hurricaine Katrina have borne out, they are critical not just for habitat, but as buffers against storms, purifiers of water and air, and other things that keep us safe here on earth.
One of the world's great staging areas for shorebirds, Saemangeum tidal flats in Korea, a 400 sq km tidal flat/estuary in Korea, is in great danger of disappearing. An important staging ground for some 400,000 birds, it is in the final stages of a land reclamation project. In March the last remaining gaps in the sea wall will start to be filled. Charlie Moores, the tireless birder who writes the excellent blog Charlie's Bird Blog, along with his brother Nial, have been campaigning hard to save the Saemangeum, and have put together a plan for an international team of researchers and ornithologists to gather data needed to help save the Saemangeum. To that end, they need your help. In an effort to raise funds for the Saemangeum Monitoring Programme, they have created Bird Watch Day for Saemangeum, the weekend of February 4th and 5th.
You know that you're heading out to appreciate the world of birds that weekend anyway right? Why not direct that energy to save one of the world's great bird habitats. Start by reading Charlies excellent post on the Saemangeum, and then follow his links for more information. Then act, the time is now. Who knows, maybe one day you'll find yourself in Korea, glassing flocks of Great Knots, searching for the world's remaining Spoon-billed Sandpipers and Nordmann's Greenshanks instead of bemoaning their loss to the world.
Recent Comments