IWSG Small Projects Grants
Since 2016, the International Wader Study Group annually funds small projects.The IWSG Small Projects Grants aim to support shorebird studies that otherwise will not go ahead. This could be all sorts of projects related to waders (shorebirds): ecological and/or conservation research, pilot studies looking at biological aspects of a single or a few species, or counts of staging birds at unexplored sites. Or something completely different! Application is open for IWSG members who have a project idea that could be undertaken if supported with a small amount of money (currently 1000 Euros per project).
In the below link you can find a description of criteria and the application form. The IWSG Executive Committee has appointed an evaluation committee that will judge the applications, and decide which project will be awarded.
The call for 2021 (field work 2022) is open. Please note, deadline has been extended to 15th December 2021.
Applications should be submitted by December 1st of each year, and a decision will be made before 1st of May.
Application form IWSG Small Project Grants Call
The 2020 IWSG Small Grant winner
We are happy to announce that we have chosen to award the 2020 IWSG Small Grants to:
Hari Basnet: Breeding Biology of Wood Snipe Gallinago nemoricola in Lamtang National Park, Nepal
Wood Snipe is globally vulnerable and one of the least known wader species that breeds in subalpine and alpine meadows between 3,650–4,520 m. Very limited information available on breeding biology, with no first-hand record of nests or its eggs.
Wood snipe habitat Photo: Hari Basnet
This project aims to document the breeding biology and nesting habitats along with the specie’s relationship with alpine grazing system in Langtang National Park. This study will be the foundation to the design of a monitoring programme and helpful in effective conservation measures that should be implemented to conserve the species in future.
Sandra Giner & Virginia Sanz: Identification of potential WHSRN sites for the protection of breeding areas of two plovers of conservation concern (C. wilsonia and C. nivosus) in Margarita Island, Venezuela
The aim of the research is to obtain reliable information on the breeding biology of two plovers of conservation concern (Charadrius wilsonia cinnamominus and C. nivosus tenuirostris) due to the negative trend reported at the species level. Recent information on these sub-species is scarse and very fragmented in the Caribbean, and in the case of the sub-species C.w. cinnamominus almost totally lacking.
Field work in Venezuela. Photo: Carolina Davila
The objectives are to quantify the breeding population, to identify important breeding sites and breeding success in Margarita Island. Additionally, to characterize the breeding sites and to identify potential threats. The expected output is to have information to evaluate the possibility to create a new Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network site, and to propose management recommendations to assure successful breeding in the future.
The committee are very delighted to support two projects targeting breeding biology and requirements of lesser known and studied species and these studies will definitely add to new knowledge.
The IWSG Small Grant Committee,Yahkat Barshep, Vojtěch Kubelka, Birgita Hansen, Nils Warnock and Jannik Hansen
Previous winners
2019
- Emmanuel Nii Attram Taye: Breeding ecology and foraging behaviour of Black-winged stilts in Ghana.
2018
- Thomas Mondain-Monval: Identifying the wintering grounds of Common Sandpipers in the UK using stable isotope analysis.
- Christian Höfs and Tim van der Meer: Dotterel distribution and site faithfulness in Ammanäs, Sweden.
2017
- Christoph Himmel: Censusing waders along Southern Azerbaijan coast on the flyway of, for instance, the Central Asian population of Black-tailed Godwits
- Ralitsa Georgieva: Research of distribution, population size and main treats of breeding waders along Albania seacoast wetlands
- Sriman Delip Kumar Das: A shorebird expedition to unexplored mudflats of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta, an important bird and biodiversity area, Bangladesh
2016
- Biol. Glenda Hevia and Dr. Verónica D’Amico: A valuation of the impact of human activities on physiological parameters of Two-Banded Plovers (Charadrius falklandicus) breeding at beaches in Northern Patagonia, Argentina.
Details on the previous recipients of the IWSG Small Grants