Note:The appeal total was reached in May 2019
but donations continue to be needed to fund the ongoing management
of the site that will be required after ownership has been
secured so that the following is still relevant.
Spoon-billed Sandpiper
is an iconic species for many birders around the world not
only for its unique bill but for the fact that it is currently
listed as Critically Endangered with a world population of
661-718 birds (HBW,
2016). For those not familiar with the way that conservation
status is graded, Critically Endangered is just one step away
from total extinction.
Salt farms in the Gulf of Thailand, most specifically at Pak
Thale in Phetchaburi province, has been a reliable site to
find Spoon-billed Sandpiper in winter, through the months
of Mid October to early April, and indeed with the continuing
decline of the species but more or less stable numbers occurring
at this site, it is likely that the site is becoming more
and more important as a wintering and migratory feeding ground
for the species. Many birders have visited the site at Pak
Thale and seen "their" Spoon-billed Sandpiper, in
fact probably more birders have "ticked" Spoon-billed
Sandpiper at Pak Thale than at any other single site in the
world. Anyone who has visited Southeast or East Asia will
know that development is rampant and little or no consideration
is given for the need of birds like this and the future of
the site at Pak Thale has been uncertain now for a few years
with signs appearing declaring the salt farms for sale.
Under normal circumstances the result would be that some investor
would buy the land and either build a factory on it, convert
it to deep water shrimp farms or just neglect it and wait
to sell the land on while its wildlife value degraded. However,
in this instance the Bird
Conservation Society of Thailand have the opportunity
to buy the land and secure this important wintering site for
Spoon-billed Sandpiper for ever.
Here is the English version of the appeal put out by the Bird
Conservation Society of Thailand.
"Bird Conservation Society of Thailand (BCST) has
been working on conservation of migratory shorebirds, particularly
the globally threatened Spoon-billed Sandpiper, at Pak Thale
in Phetchaburi province for over a decade. The main threat
to the survival of these birds are land use change. Migratory
shorebirds depend heavily on salt pans as their feeding
and high-tide roosting site. The conversion of salt pans
to aquaculture ponds, urban area, factories, land mining,
etc. is putting the fate of these globally threatened shorebirds
at high risk.
BCST sees the importance of securing habitat for these
migratory shorebirds and one way to achieve that is to establish
a nature reserve. Because most of the land at Pak Thale
are privately owned, BCST has been in negotiation to buy
the land which currently covers approximately 8 hectares
of salt pans where Spoon-billed Sandpipers and other shorebirds
utilise every winter.
Currently, the land acquisition is largely supported by
the Rainforest Trust. However, we still need to raise another
1,500,000 THB (47,000 USD) to fully cover all the costs
including future management of the site.
If the fundraising is successful, this will be Thailand's
first nature reserve aimed for migratory shorebirds that
is managed by a non-governmental organisation."
For all of us concerned about, not only Thailand's, but the
world's rapidly diminishing wildlife this is an easy opportunity
to make a difference, just make a donation, small or large,
and the money for this project should surely be raised quickly.
The BCST and Rainforest Trust have made donating money easy
in one of the three following ways;
1. Via PayPal: Please use the email bcst.th@gmail.com
as the reference of whom to pay.
2. Via credit card: Please visit Rainforest
Trust to donate by credit card
3. Via bank transfer:
Bank name: TMB Bank
Bank address: Ngamwongwan branch, Nonthaburi, Thailand
Swift code: TMBKTHBK
Beneficiary name: Bird Conservation Society of Thailand
IBAN number: 026-2-67477-3
If the BCST manage to acquire this site it will represent
not only a step forward in Spoon-billed Sandpiper conservation
but potentially a huge leap for bird conservation in Thailand
as this will be the first reserve owned and managed by BCST
and hopefully it can provide the impetus for them to gain
the experience and expertise required to go on and grow into
a far bigger organisation, one with a network of reserves
throughout the Kingdom of Thailand. Personally I have grown
weary of watching wildlife and its habitats disappear, I have
no faith in governments doing the right thing and believe
the only way forward is for people who care about wildlife
to put their hands in their pockets and buy land so that it
can be managed for biodiversity; and that is the opportunity
we have here.
For more information, please contact BCST at ayuwat@bcst.or.th
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