The Australian Endangered list has welcomed eight species of wader which have been upgraded to either endangered or vulnerable.
The species in question are Black-tailed Godwi, Bar-tailed Godwit, and Greenshank which has been uplisted to Endangered. Ruddy Turnstone, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Latham’s Snipe, Asian Dowitcher, Grey Plover and Terek Sandpiper have subsequently been uplisted to Vulnerable.
There has been no formal announcement made by the government, however there has been indications that the waders were about to be uplisted came in December when the Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek issued a press release regarding the government’s fight again the illegal wildlife trade the country has been facing and aiming to tackle.
Jess Abrahams, from Australian Conservation Foundation, said: “There are birds that have gone straight to the endangered list. Greenshank has declined up to 60% in three generations, and Black-tailed Godwit 52-77%. That’s a huge loss over a short period of time.”
Pressures on the eight species are global. These birds make several essential feeding stops along the flyways to fuel their migrations between breeding and wintering grounds, and destruction of habitat both in Australia and overseas has impacted survival rates.
It wasn’t all bad news for Australia’s migratory waders, though, with both Great Knot and Red Knot downlisted.
WildSpace 