Status of migratory wader populations in Africa and Western Eurasia in the 1990s – Introduction

Estimates of the size of wader populations need to be regularly updated for use in flyway and site conservation, and up-to-date information on population trends is an essential basis for identifying priorities for conservation action and assessing progress towards the target of significantly reducing the rate of loss of biodiversity by 2010 made by world leaders at their 2002 global summit in Johannesburg . This paper presents the results of a major collation and reanalysis of 1990s migratory wader population data for all countries in Africa and Eurasia.

The review was undertaken by the International Wader Study Group between 1996 and 2000, and updates previous estimates dating from the mid-1980s. Estimates were compiled from national data sources and through workshops of wader experts, pending redevelopment of the Wetlands International’s Wader Counts Database. We present status information on 131 populations of 55 species that have at least one migratory population. Of these we report size estimates (to varying precision) for 124 populations, 1% population thresholds (or provisional thresholds) for 116 populations, and indications of trends between the mid 1980s and mid 1990s for 80 populations. The analysis reveals changes in the population sizes of 72 populations of 32 species. For 18 populations, no new data have become available to reassess numbers, and for six of these, numbers are completely unknown.