(Originally published on 06/21/2016)

The First Summer Survey on Hainan Island Costal Water Birds

June 21, Hainan- To understand more about water birds in Hainan, Hainan Bird Watching Society, under the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) - Global Environment Facility (GEF) Hainan Wetland Project, conducted the first survey on Hainan island costal water birds in the summer, from June 17^th to 19^th. 

Hainan Province possesses a rich and broad wetland ecosystems, which provides an ideal habitat for water birds to live and breed. “As the amount of water birds in the wetland is a good indicator for the health status of the wetland, conducting a water bird survey could help the project gain better understanding about the condition of the wetland.” said Zhou Zhiqin, Project Manager of the UNDP-GEF Hainan project. “Besides this, we will now know the birds’ preference on the wetlands through the survey, and come up with tailored conservation measures.”

The UNDP-GEF Hainan project has been conducting water bird surveys throughout the winters, as Hainan attracts many migrating birds thanks to its warm and benign weather in the winter. Yet, this is the very first time for the survey to be conducted in the summer.

The 3-day survey recorded 1435 water birds of 35 species. Amongst the identified birds, the heron’s family, shorebirds’ family and the gulls’ family are the largest, which were observed 595, 422 and 373 respectively. The birds were aggregated at Dongzhaigang National Nature Reserve (NNR), Xinfudao Wetland NNR and Xinying Wetland.

Compared with the survey results in winter, the species and number of water birds in the summer are less, in particular the shorebirds and the herons, however, the survey identified more gulls than in winter. As some of the gulls would breed at the off-shore areas in the summer, it is easier to observe the large groups. “One interesting discovery from this survey is that we also noticed the commonly known winter species, like the black-winged stilt, whimbrel and common redshank also appear in the summer,” said Lu Gang, Communication Officer of UNDP-GEF Hainan Project, “but whether they will start the breeding activity in Hainan is still unknown.”

In 2013, UNDP partnered with Hainan Forestry Department and Dongzhaigang Nature Reserve to launch the UNDP-GEF Hainan project, aiming at strengthening the management effectiveness of wetland protected area system in Hainan. As part of the Hainan Project, the summer water bird survey can help gain a better understanding of biodiversity in Hainan, contributing to the overall goal of the project. The project will tackle the existing and emerging threats to the globally significant biodiversity and ecosystem in Hainan, which in return will contribute to the provincial economy, bringing ecological and social benefits to local residents.

The Hainan project is part of the greater United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)- Global Environment Facility (GEF) Wetland Protected Area System Strengthening for Biodiversity Conservation programme.