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IUCN Situation Analysis on East and Southeast Asian Intertidal Habitats, with Particular Reference to the Yellow Sea

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IUCN Situation Analysis on East and Southeast Asian Intertidal Habitats, with Particular Reference to the Yellow Sea IUCN situation analysis on East and Southeast Asian intertidal habitats, with particular reference to the Yellow Sea John MacKinnon, Yvonne I. Verkuil and Nicholas Murray Executive Summary Out of concern for alarming rates of decline of biodiversity of the intertidal zone of the East Asia-Australasian Flyway (EAAF), this report uses available information to assess the status of this important ecotype. We use the status and population trends of key species of waterbirds as the best indicator of the environmental health of intertidal habitats. The findings presented are alarming. Rates of species decline of up to 8% per year are among the highest of any ecological system of the planet and the Flyway is liable to soon experience many extinctions and collapses of essential and valuable ecological services unless current trends can be reversed. This is a clear failure to meet targets and obligations under several key international environmental agreements. Although all sectors of the Flyway face a variety of threats, the Yellow Sea eco-region emerges as a focus of greatest concern and the fast pace of coastal land reclamation emerges as the most pressing and irreversible factor. Remote sensing and geographical information system (GIS) analyses have shown losses of up to 60% of intertidal habitats in some key areas. Losses of such magnitude are likely the key drivers of waterbirds declines in the region. An analysis of the use of 400 coastal sites along the Flyway is included and 16 priority areas are thus identified. As a caveat, it is clear that different species utilise different suites of sites during northbound and southbound migration. Therefore, protection of only the best sites will not provide an adequate site network for all migratory species and broader protection of as many sites possible is required. The fast pace and nature of human developments affecting this zone is not in harmony with the natural environment and jeopardizes both those species that depend on this zone as well as the valuable ecological services that intertidal zone ecosystems deliver. The paper examines the reasons for this lack of harmony by reviewing the drivers that lead to environmental degradation and evaluating the weaknesses and dysfunctions in those processes – legal, financial, habitat and species conservation, awareness and knowledge - that could maintain or restore a balance between development needs and environmental needs. Drivers are reviewed at both the national and site specific level. The paper highlights the risks to biodiversity, human health, livelihoods of coastal villagers and security of economic investments of allowing a ‘business as usual’ scenario to continue and identifies areas where stronger conservation actions and initiatives are urgently required to restore a balance between development and environment. The authors urge relevant agencies to recognize the importance of the intertidal zone, be aware of the scale and urgency of threat faced and attend to the necessary steps identified. The EAAF is a shared resource serving the heritage of 22 countries, so many of these steps need to be taken in an internationally cooperative context. Unless the fast economic development of this region can be balanced with adequate environmental safeguards, impressive looking economic gains will be short-lived and will precipitate a growing list of ecological disasters. The current paper serves as a wake-up call and presents a series of recommendations for more studies, better monitoring, improved legislation, improved governance and better mobilization of limited conservation capacities. Content Executive summary 1. Introduction 2. Methodology of study 3. The intertidal zone of East and Southeast Asia 4. Mud matters – the importance and values of intertidal habitats 5. What the birds tell us - identification of critical sites and species 6. Parallel declines in other taxa and services 7. Threats to the intertidal zone 8. Vanishing intertidal habitats 9. Direct links between species decline and habitat loss due to land reclamation 10. Review of drivers of coastal zone reclamation 11. Review of protective measures and tools available Conclusions of this study Acknowledgments References Appendix 1. List of Globally Threatened birds of intertidal habitats in East Asia Appendix 2. List of priority areas for waterbirds, and in particular shorebirds, of the EAAF, with specific threats Appendix 3. Major problems, drivers and possible solutions to reduce loss of intertidal habitats and biota Appendix 4. List of major international programmes with direct relevance to EAAF Appendix 5. Matrix of issues affecting different countries Appendix 6. Comparative review of PA legislation and management Appendix 7. Comparative table of national procedures for EIA /SEA Appendix 8. Recommended scope for Action Plan Appendix 9. A selection of case studies in priority areas 1. Introduction Because birds are largely diurnal, visually distinctive at medium range and are monitored by considerable numbers of bird-watching enthusiasts, they are outstanding indicators of environmental health and change. Because birds occupy a wide range of niches and use so many types of food and physical resources, they are particularly sensitive to environmental degradation. So, just as nineteenth century miners looked to their caged canaries as indication that it was safe to continue breathing the mine air, so we can use data on fluctuating bird populations to alert us of modern environmental dangers. In this way the recent reports of major declines of birds migrating through the East Asian-Australasian Flyway are indicating the rapid destruction of bird habitats throughout Asia. This report highlights that the destruction of Asia’s intertidal zone constitutes one of the fastest losses of biodiversity globally. Intertidal habitats are vital for the survival of millions of birds of several hundred species, as well as nesting beaches for endangered sea turtles, breeding areas for Asia’s seals, spawning grounds for important economic fisheries and homes of thousands of species of invertebrate crustaceans, worms and molluscs. Many species which rely on intertidal habitats are in trouble; five regional species of intertidal sea grasses are globally threatened (Short et al. 2011) and the estuarine Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin is critically endangered (Ross et al. 2010) . The clearest evidence of the high number of globally threatened species dependent on these habitats is among the birds, particularly waterbirds, with 24 globally threatened species among the shorebirds, waterfowl, spoonbills, cranes, seabirds and pelicans (BirdLife 2005) that use Asian intertidal habitats, and 9 more shorebird species under review to be listed. The reports on these species emphasise that these losses are more than just the sad loss of our fascinating natural heritage but constitute a threat to the lives, health, safety and welfare of hundreds of millions of our fellow humans, a threat to trillions of dollars worth of land and property and a risk to the health of the great oceans on which we all depend. The intertidal zone, with its sand and mud bars, beaches, and mangroves, deliver a vast list of valuable ecological services that we are discarding too causally in favour of near-sighted development goals. Approximately 35% of mangroves and 19% of coral reefs have been destroyed globally (Wilkinson 2008, Giri et al. 2010) . But for intertidal habitats, which are heavily impacted by human influence, we have little certainty of their present distribution, status and trends (Healy et al., 2002, Millenium Ecosystem Assessment 2005, Keddy et al. 2009) . Current estimates of intertidal habitat loss in Asia equate to loss rates greater than or equal to global rates of mangroves, tropical forests and coral reefs declines. Losses of up to 51% of coastal wetlands have occurred in China over the past 50 years and in Singapore 76% of coastal wetlands have been reported lost (Hilton and Manning 1995, An et al. 2007) . Loss of intertidal areas within migratory pathways, where birds must replenish their energy stores during migration, can have extreme consequences for shorebird populations(Myers et al. 1987, Goss-Custard et al. 1995, Buehler and Piersma 2008) . For the millions of shorebirds that migrate through the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF), the intertidal areas of Asia are a crucial migratory bottleneck and extreme habitat losses are driving major population declines in many of these species (Barter 2002, Barter 2003, Bamford et al. 2008, Cao et al. 2009, Rogers et al. 2010, Yang et al. 2011). 2. Methodology of study This study used data on waterbirds to identify key areas for biodiversity conservation and data on land claim to identify which of the most important sites are the most threatened. An investigation of the main drivers of the threats followed, focusing on case studies of the most threatened, most important sites for waterbirds. Species which inhabit intertidal areas, particularly shorebirds, give us a convenient and powerful indication of ecosystem well-being, given that they are at the top of the food chain and we have very good monitoring data for these species (Mallory et al. 2006) . The data can tell us which are the most important and vulnerable sites for biodiversity conservation, in terms of the sites with the largest numbers of birds and which support the greatest number threatened species. Information on past, current and future plans for land claim of intertidal habitats gives
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