The present status and distribution of the Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaea in Vietnam

The most threatened migratory shorebird in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, the Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaea, overwinters largely on the intertidal flats of Southeast Asia, especially Myanmar and Bangladesh. The Mekong and Red River deltas in Vietnam are known to host small numbers of Spoon-billed Sandpipers on their migration, but little is known of the recent status of the species there. Here, we (1) review the distribution and status of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper at key sites in both the Red River and Mekong deltas, (2) report findings from recent monitoring and exploratory surveys at coastal sites in both deltas, and (3) discuss the main threats faced by migratory shorebirds on Vietnam’s coastal wetlands. We found the Spoon-billed Sandpiper continues to occur in at least two sites on the Mekong Delta, namely Tan Thanh (Tien Giang Province) and Binh Dai (Ben Tre Province). The intertidal flats at Tan Thanh are the most important site for the species in Vietnam, and possibly in Southeast Asia outside Myanmar. We discovered three new wintering sites, including salt pans at La Gi (Binh Thuan Province), and provide continued documentation of the species at Xuan Thuy National Park on the Red River Delta, demonstrating the flyway-level importance of these wetlands. Immediate conservation concerns facing the species and other migratory shorebirds in Vietnam include hunting and, increasingly, habitat loss from coastal land claim and the encroachment of inshore windfarms into key sites (e.g. Tan Thanh). There is an urgent need to designate new protected areas for migratory shorebirds on the Vietnamese coastline, especially in the Mekong Delta, to avoid losing these coastal wetlands to poorly planned coastal development. In particular, opportunities should be taken for new protected area approaches that can also support the livelihoods of local communities dependent upon the mudflats.