IRREPLACEABLE | GULF OF MOTTAMA Myanmar
Shelter at last: Spoonie’s winter
wonderland becomes Ramsar Site
Following tireless work from BirdLife Partner BANCA,
Myanmar’s Government has designated part of the Gulf of
Mottama a Ramsar Site – affording this vast wetland, an
important wintering site for several globally threatened
waders, protection against the threat of overfishing.
Picture it in your mind’s eye: a wild, untamed stretch of
coast, where rapid, powerful waves lash at the endless mud-
flats, constantly resculpting and refreshing the shoreline.
Imagine, too, tidal flats that teem with life, as fish and inver-
tebrates alike feast on the sediments and nutrients that flow
into the coastal waters via three major rivers. What you’re
picturing is the Gulf of Mottama – a giant, funnel-shaped
estuary in Myanmar, and one of the most important winter-
ing sites for migratory waterbirds in Asia.
So rich are the pickings at the Gulf of Mottama that one out
of every two Spoonies recommend it – Spoonie, of course,
being the colloquial name for the Spoon-billed Sandpiper
Calidris pygmaea, a Critically Endangered wader that has
been hit hard by habitat loss across its wintering grounds.
Here in the Gulf of Mottama, up to 180-220 Spoonies are
estimated to arrive every winter – around half the global
population of this scarce bird, cementing the area’s status as
an area of outstanding conservational value.
And yet, until very recently, the Gulf of Mottama’s future
was far from secure. Despite its importance for endan-
gered migratory waders such as Spoonie, Great Knot Cal-
idris tenuirostris and Spotted Greenshank Tringa guttifer,
and its recognition by BirdLife as an Important Bird & Bio-
diversity Area (IBA) in danger, the Gulf received no formal
protection status, and this has led to its resources being
drained at an alarming rate.
The biggest threat to this valuable ecosystem is overfishing.
The numbers of fish in its waters have plummeted over the
last decade, largely as a result of illegal fishers using nets that
indiscriminately trap fish of all sizes and varieties – including
juveniles. Bird hunting, too, has been a problem in recent
years, but it is difficult to effectively control these threats in
areas that do not benefit from government protection.
Recognising the Gulf of Mottama’s importance, BANCA
(BirdLife in Myanmar) has been working to preserve this
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crucial wetland for many years. In addition to boots-on-
the-ground conservation – such as shorebird monitoring,
patrolling and saving Spoonies from hunters – BANCA has
also played a key role in lobbying the Myanmar Govern-
ment to recognise the Gulf of Mottama as a Ramsar site
under the terms of the Ramsar Convention (an interna-
tional treaty which guides countries in offering formal
protection for wetlands of global importance). Over half a
decade’s worth of tireless pressure finally paid off on May
10th, 2017 – fittingly, World Migratory Bird Day – when
a 45,000 hectare stretch of the Gulf was officially desig-
nated Myanmar’s fourth Ramsar site – and the first to be
BIRDLIFE • JUNE 2017
situated outside of a legally protected area. The area’s
new status will aid BANCA, and other local conservation
groups, in properly controlling threats such as hunting and
overfishing, which are putting at risk not only the contin-
ued existence of several globally threatened wading birds,
but also the livelihoods of local communities who depend
on this productive estuary, and its inhabitants, for food and
water purification (worms, molluscs and crustaceans are
known to remove pollutants from water).
There are global benefits, too: since mudflats are impor-
tant carbon sinks, they help mitigate the effects of climate
JUNE 2017 • BIRDLIFE
change – making the Gulf of Mottama’s ascension to Ramsar
status very timely indeed, given other recent worldwide
news. “The Gulf of Mottama is one of the most outstand-
ing sites on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway for migratory
waterbirds”, says Mike Crosby, BirdLife International’s Senior
Conservation Officer for the Asia Region. “Its designation as
a Ramsar site is a major step forward in its conservation.”
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Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaea
Photo Butterfly Hunter/Shutterstock
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