IUCN Situation Analysis on East and Southeast Asian Intertidal Habitats, with Particular Reference to the Yellow Sea (Including the Bohai Sea)
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IUCN situation analysis on East and Southeast Asian intertidal habitats, with particular reference to the Yellow Sea (including the Bohai Sea) John MacKinnon, Yvonne I. Verkuil and Nicholas Murray INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE Occasional Paper of the IUCN Species Survival Commission No. 47 www.iucn.org Produced with support from The designation of geographical entities in this book, and the presentation of the material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IUCN or the compilers concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of IUCN or other participating organizations. Published by: IUCN, Gland, Switzerland Copyright: © 2012 International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorized without prior written permission from the copyright holder provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of this publication for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permission of the copyright holder. Citation: MacKinnon, J., Verkuil, Y.I. & Murray, N. 2012. IUCN situation analysis on East and Southeast Asian intertidal habitats, with particular reference to the Yellow Sea (including the Bohai Sea). Occasional Paper of the IUCN Species Survival Commission No. 47. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. ii + 70 pp. ISBN: 978-2-8317-1255-0 Photo credits: Tony Mok (cover photo, Seaweed farming on the Xiapu mudflat, Fujian County, China), Jeong Ahn (photo page 13), Jan van der Kam (photo in Fig. 3, page 7), Ju Yung Ki (photos Box 2, page 18), Nick Murray (photos Fig. 10, Appendix 9) Available from: IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Publications Services Rue Mauverney 28 1196 Gland Switzerland Tel +41 22 999 0000 Fax +41 22 999 0020 [email protected] www.iucn.org/publications Also available at www.iucn.org/asiancoastalwetlands About IUCN IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges. IUCN works on biodiversity, climate change, energy, human livelihoods and greening the world economy by supporting scientific research, managing field projects all over the world, and bringing governments, NGOs, the UN and companies together to develop policy, laws and best practice. IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organization, with more than 1,200 government and NGO members and almost 11,000 volunteer experts in some 160 countries. IUCN’s work is supported by over 1,000 staff in 45 offices and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world. Web: www.iucn.org IUCN Species Survival Commission The Species Survival Commission (SSC) is the largest of IUCN’s six volunteer commissions with a global membership of 8,000 experts. SSC, working with the Global Species Programme of IUCN, advises IUCN and its members on the wide range of technical and scientific aspects of species conservation and is dedicated to securing a future for biodiversity. SSC has significant input into the international agreements dealing with biodiversity conservation. Web: http://www.iucn.org/about/work/programmes/species/about_ssc/index.cfm IUCN Asia Regional Office IUCN’s Asia programme is served by the IUCN Asia Secretariat, based out of the Asia Regional Office (ARO) in Bangkok, Thailand, in close collaboration with IUCN Headquarters in Gland, Switzerland. The IUCN Secretariat has some 300 staff in country and liaison offices in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Lao PDR, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam. To address the challenges in managing the large transboundary ecosystems of Asia and respond to the demands of the constituents, the Asia Region has realigned to form three subregional groups: a Southeast Asia Group managed by a Group Head (Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam); a South Asia Subregional Group (covering all the South Asian countries) headed by one of the IUCN Country Representatives in South Asia on a rotational basis; and a North and East Asia Subregional Group managed directly by the Regional Director working closely with the Country Representative of China (China, Mongolia, Japan, North Korea and South Korea). Table of Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................ ii 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................1 2. Methodology of study ......................................................................................................................2 3. The intertidal zone of East and Southeast Asia ...............................................................................4 4. Why mud matters – the importance and values of intertidal habitats ............................................ 4 5. Identification of critical sites and species........................................................................................5 6. Parallel declines in other taxa and services ....................................................................................8 7. Threats to the intertidal zone ......................................................................................................... 11 8. Vanishing intertidal habitats ........................................................................................................... 13 9. Direct links between species decline and habitat loss due to land reclamation .......................... 16 10. Implications for fisheries ................................................................................................................ 19 11. Threats to land and property ......................................................................................................... 20 12. Review of drivers of coastal zone reclamation .............................................................................. 21 13. Review of protective measures and tools available ...................................................................... 23 14. Conclusions ...................................................................................................................................29 Acknowledgements ..............................................................................................................................30 List of abbreviations and acronyms ..................................................................................................... 31 References ............................................................................................................................................32 Appendix 1. List of globally threatened and Near Threatened waterbird species of intertidal habitats in East Asia .......................................................................................................................38 Appendix 2. List of key areas for waterbirds, and particularly shorebirds, in the EAAF, with specific threats ............................................................................................................................... 42 Appendix 3. Major problems, drivers and possible solutions to reduce loss of intertidal habitats and biota ........................................................................................................................................48 Appendix 4. List of major international programmes with direct relevance to the EAAF .................... 51 Appendix 5. Matrix of issues affecting different countries/territories ................................................. 52 Appendix 6. Comparative review of protected area legislation and management ..............................53 Appendix 7. Comparative table of legislative procedures for EIA /SEA by country/territory ..............54 Appendix 8. Participation in Multilateral Environmental Agreements and associated actions ...........56 Appendix 9. A selection of case studies in key areas .......................................................................... 57 Appendix 10. List of attendees of the 6th Meeting of Partners of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP MOP6), 19–22 March 2012, and the 9th Spoon-billed Sandpiper Task Force Meeting, 23–24 March 2012, Palembang, Indonesia ..................................................60 Appendix 11. The 388 sites considered in the IUCN situation analysis to identify key areas .............62 Intertidal Report • i Executive Summary The IUCN Species Survival Commission and IUCN Asia Regional Office commissioned this independent report to assess the state and condition of intertidal habitats along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF), in response to growing concerns expressed by IUCN members over observed declines in biodiversity, the loss of ecological services, and an increase in ecological disasters. This report is a situation analysis, and it seeks to gather in one place the relevant data and analyses, and to present as clear a picture of the status of the intertidal zone in the EAAF as the data allow. By intention, this report makes no recommendations, but it should serve as a resource for those stakeholders