Solidarity: the Wader Quest way!

Now that the dust has settled a bit on the Bird Fair weekend, we are able to look ahead and what do we see looming on the horizon?

Wader Conservation World Watch:
7th & 8th November 2015

Last year we did an event called Wader Quest World Watch where we asked our friends and supporters, wherever they happened to be in the world, to go out and look at waders. It was a celebration of Wader Quest's anniversary. It was very successful too with 118 species being seen.

This year however we wanted to make more of a statement with the event and raise the profile of wader conservation itself. There is no doubt that waders are a popular group of birds, but we do not feel that enough is made of the dire circumstances in which they find themselves through no fault of their own. That is why we have turned our event into a celebration of wader conservation.

There are many people out there both professional and volunteer who are working hard, day and night, to protect waders and their habitat. 

There are of course the headline stories such as the Spoon-billed Sandpiper on the brink of extinction, the crisis with the Horseshoe Crabs in Delaware Bay, the destruction of the intertidal zone in the Yellow Sea region and so forth, but behind these very important issues many hundreds if not thousands of small conservation tragedies are happening. Each one on its own not necessarily significant, a nest here, a roosting beach there, but the cumulative effect is staggering.

Realistically we cannot hope to regain all the losses suffered, but we can go a long way to mitigate the relentless pressure being placed on our environment by supporting communities which are willing to give up their time and effort to do something about what is happening.

This is why we think that it is important to recognise the tremendous work that is going on around the world to save waders.

The people that carry out these projects deserve our thanks for the work they are doing and you can show your solidarity with them showing you care and appreciate what they are doing, simply by going out and looking at waders. There are more details about what to do and how to do it here.

It couldn't be simpler and those that are working hard to save the birds will know that you appreciate the effort and sacrifices they are making.

And remember: 

WADERS NEED LOVE TOO!

Black-tailed Godwit chicks: Photo Astrid Kant