Arcadia Fund helps us support restoration and management of critical habitats for migratory waterbirds in the Yellow Sea
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A new grant from the Arcadia, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin, will enable Wetlands International to work with local governments and other stakeholders along the coast of the Yellow Sea in China. The intertidal and associated wetlands in this area are a critically important part of the East Asian – Australasian Flyway for migratory waterbirds, especially waders.
Now these wetlands, especially the mudflats in this region have been under a lot of pressure due to a variety of factors including pollution, industrial and urban development and fishing activities. Lack of awareness of the importance of these areas is also one of the underlying factors. However, attention to this issue is now increasing, and Arcadia recognising the importance of this is supporting Wetlands International to restore coastal wetlands; by strengthening the management capacity of local authorities and other stakeholders.
In the new, so called ‘Flyway Bottleneck Yellow Sea’ project, we will mobilise local authorities and stakeholders to safeguard migratory waterbird populations in the Chinese Yellow Sea region of the East Asian – Australasian Flyway. We will also implement solutions for practical habitat management and restoration at key sites; as well as promote the potential for replication at other sites, strengthen protected area management and support partnerships to leverage lasting outcomes for the region’s biodiversity.
This new grant from Arcadia , a long-standing supporter of Wetlands International, will enable us to make a transformational difference through saving threatened waterbird species and their habitats in the Yellow Sea, an area with enormous development pressure.
In its first project that was supported by Arcadia, Wetlands International worked on the importance of wetlands for migratory waterbirds in West Africa and in Northern Russia, connected by the African Eurasian Flyway. The ‘From Arctic to Africa’ project demonstrated the flyway approach as one of Wetlands International’s signature approaches. Focusing on areas in these flyways that are of disproportional importance and are at risk of being ‘Flyway Bottlenecks’ is also the basis of the new work in the Yellow Sea.
Know more about these waterbirds and their habitats from our publication Invisible Connection, a wonderful photographic journey that follows the migration of shorebirds flying from the Arctic through East Asia to Australasia.