Jing Li (ELP 2022) | Operation Manager, Spoon-billed Sandpiper in China, China

In 2008，it was the first time I met the iconic bird–- the Spoon-billed Sandpiper. I was thrilled and couldn't help sharing my excitement with all my birding friends, “You know, I just saw  10% of the global population of these critically endangered birds!”. Most of them sent a “Wow!” to me via text message. One ornithologist working in the north Yellow Sea said, “It is not a good sign and please keep your promise.”

It took me over ten years to fully understand what he meant. First, the tidal flat of the Yellow Sea is an endangered ecosystem identified by the IUCN in 2016. The Spoon-billed Sandpiper, listed as CR by IUCN, was simply a species that represented the bad situation in this area. When people are taking more and more habitats for development, species have nowhere to go, and some will crowd in a small region. That was exactly what I saw. Second, my team does meet them every year. 10%, 50% and as many as 90% of Spoon-billed Sandpipers were recorded in the Jiangsu Coast of the Yellow Sea every spring and autumn. We even saw more endangered species such as the  Nordmann’s Greenshank, Great Knot, and Asian Dowitcher. They have slightly different migration strategies, though they breed in different parts of arctic tundra, and they will come to the Yellow Sea in their own life clock. They look so different in appearance and will sometimes mix into a flock of over a thousand and fly into the air like a feather cloud. I was fascinated by their life and did keep my promise. 

I founded a local NGO for spoon-billed sandpipers in China. The team and I are trying to protect this unique bird and its migrating friends who have to carry on this big cross-continental journey over thousands of kilometers. They had many troubles in the Yellow Sea, losing their habitat on their way to breeding grounds and wintering grounds. Some of them found that it was challenging to stay safe when the mudflat was covered by rising tides due to lands that had been rapidly changed into aqua fishery ponds, rice pads or even solar pads fields. As a grassroots NGO, we could not change the big picture of development or land use at the national level. However, we tried other approaches, like reducing the negative impact for these birds by working with protected areas, local fishermen and schools. 

With Tiaozini’s inscription into World Nature heritage sites and the incorporation of the spoon-billed sandpiper into state-protected animals in 2019 and 2021, the SBSinChina team was highly recognized both by international and national conservation communities. This will take us to the next stage. We can protect more than just spoon-billed sandpipers and our practice could benefit more areas in the Yellow Sea region.