Back chat Meet one of WWT’s partners and find out what they do

MY MY wild life

Waterlife chats to Hyeseon Do, a champion of the East Asian- Australasian Flyway Partnership, about its success and hopes for the future

What is the East Asian-Australasian

Flyway (EAAF)? The flyway is a migratory route for 50 million waterbirds stretching across 22 countries, from the Russian Far East and Alaska to Australia and New Zealand (wwt.org.uk/eaa-flyway). Since 2006, the EAAF Partnership has been working to protect the wetlands along the flyway – and the wildlife and people who depend on them. It is formed of 39 partners from governments and international NGOs to the private sector.

What is your role? Based in the EAAFP Secretariat in South Korea, I provide coordination and strategic planning to develop and strengthen the partnership and its programmes, to build capacity and to support national partnerships in the countries along the flyway.

How does WWT contribute? WWT has been a huge supporter and active partner of the EAAFP since joining in 2010. Its expertise in planning, designing and managing wetlands – and educating people about them – is of great value to our partners. WWT also contributes to our strategy. When I recently visited WWT centres, I saw how much people love and enjoy the wetlands. They inspired me to shout about the importance of conserving them, not only for wildlife but for all of us.

Hyeseon Do

Programme Officer, East AsianAustralasian Flyway Partnership Secretariat Why does the flyway matter? For shorebirds, the stopover sites on their annual journeys between their breeding and wintering sites are vital. On the flyway, the most important site for millions of migratory birds is a region called the Yellow Sea. Sandwiched between China to the west and north, and South Korea and North Korea to the east, this is the world’s largest intertidal mudflat ecosystem. It’s vitally important for the survival of 17 Red Listed migratory waders, including the Critically Endangered spoon-billed sandpiper. But it is threatened by development and coastal reclamation, which is causing irreversible damage and declines in waterbird populations.

Is there any good news? In 2021, important tidal flats of the Yellow Sea in China and South Korea were inscribed on the UNESCO World Natural Heritage List as migratory bird sanctuaries. This was a victory for the partnership and the protection of these wetlands, their wildlife and the communities they support.

How will the UNESCO designation help protect the sites and the birds?

The designation of parts of the Yellow Sea as World Natural Heritage Sites will ensure that the highest protection measures are implemented, and help raise their conservation profile globally. But it is only a first step, as we must ensure protection for migratory species is enhanced and expanded before more wild areas disappear, and that other critical areas we have identified are safeguarded.

Tell us more about the spoon-billed

sandpiper. The ‘spoonie’ is a flyway superstar. In 2000, the species was predicted to go extinct within a few years. But the united efforts of international members of the EAAFP successfully highlighted the species’ plight, and now there are about 300 to 700 individuals left in the world.

How does the EAAFP support conservation along the flyway?

Through its partners and collaborators, the EAAFP aims to expand the network of protected wetlands throughout the flyway. We will scale up the protection and sustainable management of wetland sites that host globally important biodiversity and provide critical ecosystem services.

Our newly launched Regional Flyway Initiative – with Asian Development Bank and BirdLife International – will help governments to fulfil their commitments on climate change and biodiversity, assist local communities to live with migratory birds, and help mobilise the resources needed to tackle the issues on the ground to safeguard these special sites.