Wildlife Conservation Plan for Migratory Shorebirds Commonwealth of Australia 2015 Adopted as an Interim Recovery Plan for the Threatened Migratory Shorebirds visiting Western Australia Red knot (Calidris canutus) Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea) Great Knot (Calidris tenuirostris) Greater Sand Plover (Charadrius leschenaultii) Lesser Sand Plover (Charadrius mongolus) Bar-tailed Godwit (western Alaskan) (Limosa lapponica baueri) Bar-tailed Godwit (northern Siberian) (Limosa lapponica menzbieri) Eastern Curlew (Numenius madagascariensis) Wildlife Management Program No. 65 Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions December 2018 Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions Locked Bag 104, Bentley Delivery Centre, Western Australia 6983 Foreword Recovery plans are developed within the framework laid down in the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions Corporate Policy Statement No. 35 (Parks and Wildlife, 2015b) and Corporate Guideline No. 36 (Parks and Wildlife, 2015a). Interim recovery plans outline the recovery actions that are needed to urgently address those threatening processes most affecting the ongoing survival of threatened taxa or ecological communities, and begin the recovery process. The attainment of objectives and the provision of funds necessary to implement actions are subject to budgetary and other constraints affecting the parties involved, as well as the need to address other priorities. The Wildlife Conservation Plan for Migratory Shorebirds, Commonwealth of Australia 2015, has been adopted as an interim recovery plan by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Western Australia. Interim recovery plans are subject to modification as dictated by new findings, changes in status of the taxon or ecological community, and the completion of recovery actions. Information in the conservation plan was accurate as of August 2015 and the attached conservations advices in May 2015 or May 2016. Citation: Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (2018). Wildlife Conservation Plan for Migratory Shorebirds, Commonwealth of Australia 2015, adopted as an Interim Recovery Plan for the Threatened Migratory Shorebirds visiting Western Australia. Wildlife Management Program No. 65. Perth, WA: Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. Disclaimer: The State of Western Australia and its employees do not guarantee that this publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence that may arise from you relying on any information in this publication. © State of Western Australia Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions 2018 ii Contents Foreword ...........................................................................................................................................ii Contents .......................................................................................................................................... 3 Wildlife Conservation Plan for Migratory Shorebirds , Commonwealth of Australia 2015 ............. 4 Appendix 1 - Approved Conservation Advice for the Red knot (Calidris canutus) .........................35 Appendix 2 - Approved Conservation Advice for the Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea) ......49 Appendix 3 - Approved Conservation Advice for the Great Knot (Calidris tenuirostris) ................63 Appendix 4 - Approved Conservation Advice for the Greater Sand Plover (Charadrius leschenaultii) ..............................................................................................................................76 Appendix 5 - Approved Conservation Advice for the Lesser Sand Plover (Charadrius mongolus) ...................................................................................................................................93 Appendix 6 - Approved Conservation Advice for the Bar-tailed Godwit (western Alaskan) (Limosa lapponica baueri) .........................................................................................................109 Appendix 7 - Approved Conservation Advice for the Bar-tailed Godwit (northern Siberian) (Limosa lapponica menzbieri) ..................................................................................................125 Appendix 8 - Approved Conservation Advice for the Eastern Curlew (Numenius madagascariensis) ....................................................................................................................140 3 Wildlife Conservation Plan for Migratory Shorebirds August 2015 © Copyright Commonwealth of Australia, 2015. TheWildlife Conservation Plan for Migratory Shorebirds is licensed by the Commonwealth of Australia for use under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Australia licence with the exception of the Coat of Arms of the Commonwealth of Australia, the logo of the agency responsible for publishing the report, content supplied by third parties, and any images depicting people. For licence conditions see: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/au/ This report should be attributed as ‘Wildlife Conservation Plan for Migratory Shorebirds, Commonwealth of Australia 2015’. The Commonwealth of Australia has made all reasonable efforts to identify content supplied by third parties using the following format ‘© Copyright, [name of third party] ’. The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Australian Government or the Minister for the Environment. 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Front cover: Latham’s snipe feeding on Bribie Island (Graeme Chapman) Back cover: Sharp-tailed sandpiper (Brian Furby Collection) 2 / Wildlife Conservation Plan for Migratory Shorebirds Table of Contents 1 Summary 4 2 Introduction 5 2.1 Review of the 2006–2011 Wildlife Conservation Plan 6 3 Species covered under the Wildlife Conservation Plan 7 4 Vision 7 5 Objectives 7 6 Legal Framework 8 6.1 Statutory commitments relevant to migratory birds 8 6.2 Other Australian commitments relevant to migratory shorebirds 9 7 Important habitat for migratory shorebirds in Australia 11 8 Threats 14 8.1 Habitat loss 14 8.2 Habitat modification 15 8.3 Anthropogenic disturbance 16 8.4 Climate variability and change 16 8.5 Harvesting of shorebird prey 17 8.6 Fisheries by-catch 17 8.7 Hunting 17 8.8 Threat prioritisation 18 9 Actions to achieve the Specific Objectives 20 10 Affected interests 25 11 Organisations/persons involved in evaluating the performance of the plan 25 12 Major benefits to other migratory species, marine species, species of cetacean or conservation dependent species 27 13 References 28 14 Appendix A 30 3 1 Summary Migratory species which visit Australia such as This revised plan contains clarification of statutory shorebirds and seabirds received national protection elements of the EPBC Act by addressing topics as a matter of national environmental significance relevant to the conservation of migratory shorebirds, when the Environment Protection and Biodiversity including a summary of Australia’s commitments Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) took effect in under international conventions and agreements, and July 2000. Under the EPBC Act, wildlife conservation identification of important habitat. It outlines national plans may be prepared for the purposes of protection, actions to support EAAF shorebird conservation, and conservation and management of listed migratory, should be used to ensure these activities are integrated marine, cetacean or conservation dependant species. and remain focused on the long-term survival of migratory shorebird populations and their habitats. This Wildlife Conservation Plan for Migratory Shorebirds provides a framework to guide the The Wildlife Conservation Plan for Migratory conservation of migratory shorebirds and their habitat Shorebirds will remain in place until such time in Australia and, in recognition of their migratory that the shorebird populations that visit Australia habits, outlines national activities to support their have improved to the point where they do not appreciation and conservation throughout the East need research or management actions to support Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF). The previous their survival. This plan will be in place for five Wildlife Conservation Plan for Migratory Shorebirds years and will be reviewed in 2020. It is available came into effect in February 2006, and was the for download from the Department’s website at: first wildlife conservation plan developed under the www.environment.gov.au/resource/wildlife-conservat EPBC Act. ion-plan-migratory-shorebirds Based on expert opinion and new information, a review of the previous wildlife conservation plan recommended that Little ringed plover (Charadrius dubius) should be added to the revised list of species covered by the plan. The species is a known regular visitor to northern Australia in low numbers (Geering et al. 2007). Photo: Aerial view of the Oyster Farms and coastal area of Barilla Bay (Nick Rains) 4 / Wildlife Conservation Plan