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Vol 10 No 1 Feb 2004 A journey through 2003 Experience of a lifetime International Shorebirds Experts meet Bird RInging in the Reserve 2002 Birds in the Wetland Reserves An Uncensored Census at Sungei Buloh Kranji Nature Trail A green corridor Protected Area Wetland Management Course 6-15 Nov Sungei Buloh 10th Anniversary Celebration Nature and me		International Shorebirds Experts Meet in Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Following the dedication ceremony to mark Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve’s (SBWR) entry into the East Asian Australasian Shorebird Site Network on 7 December 2002, the Network, in conjunction with NParks, held the 6th Shorebird Working Group meeting at SBWR. The meeting, which saw 19 government and non-governmental participants from 11 countries, was held from 18 to 20 Feb 2003. During the meeting, participants reviewed the 5-year Shorebird Action Plan 2001- 2005 and drafted a 3-year workplan for 2003 to 2005 for implementation. “Central to several South East Asian countries, Singapore is the ideal location to hold this meeting where the focus now includes encouraging Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia to participate in the East Asian-Australasian Shorebird Flyway. SBWR joined the flyway in December last year and is uniquely placed to help link countries in the region in this international framework”, said Mr Warren Lee, Senior Programme Officer, Wetlands International (Oceania). SBWR will also receive training in colour flagging techniques that will allow our staff and volunteers to colour flag birds at the wetland reserve or other sites in Singapore with distinctive colour tabs for scientific monitoring throughout the East Asian Australasian region. Although important initiatives were worked out during the three-day programme, activities were not only confined to meeting rooms indoors. Participants also took part in activities such as bird ringing and tour of Sungei Buloh. Some of them took time to share their knowledge with the public through the public talks specially organised by the wetland reserve. Over 100 people were attracted to hear these shorebird experts and to learn more about shorebirds, their study and conservation. Lua Hock Keong, a volunteer of the reserve, shares his thoughts... “The shorebird conservation talks by the experts were really interesting! Most of the information we have is imparted by fellow volunteers during training sessions. The talks put the ecology, migratory behaviour and conservation of the shorebirds into perspective. Now, I know more about the conservation efforts (Ramsar Convention, East Asia Australasian Flyway, what and how conservation efforts were conducted along the flyway and the importance of keeping and maintaining sites, including SBWR) along the flyway. This is more than just knowing about the migratory waders while they were in Singapore for a ‘snapshot’ moment of their lives. Other then Warren Lee Long who presented the importance of and conservation efforts along the flyway, I was impressed with Mark Barter and his work in the Yellow sea, training locals and imparting a sense of importance to their efforts. He also highlighted the need and urgency for conservation plans for threatened mudflats in Saemangeum, South Korea. Past talks by experts Mark Barter (Australia Wader Study Group): “Would you like to be a migratory shorebird?” Warren Lee Long (Wetlands International – Oceania): The Shorebird Action Plan - What it means to you and I Bob Gill (US Geological Survey Office): Shorebird breeding areas in Alaska, and links with Asian and US Flyways Mark Barter (Australia Wader Study Group): “China’s Yellow Sea and SE Asia’s migratory shorebirds.” Yuri Gerasimov (Russian Academy of Science): Russian Far East breeding area surveys - Penzhina River David Li (Wetlands International): Counting Asia’s Waterbirds - The Asian Waterbird Counts Bob Gill (US Geological Survey Office): PRISM: Program for Integrated Shorebird Monitoring Bob Gill gave us an interesting view of what it was like working in the remote Alaskan regions and the pleasures of waking up everyday to absolutely beautiful scenery. Yuri’s presentation gave me the assurance that Russia is giving their best efforts possible in the conservation of the migratory waders.”
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