Hunters in Barbados Help to Create the Country’s First Shorebird Refuge

The hunting of migratory shorebirds at “shooting swamps” in Barbados is a well-entrenched tradition since the early colonial period. The last specimen of Eskimo Curlew (Numenius borealis) was taken by a hunter there. International outrage against this “annual slaughter” of tens of thousands of shorebirds has led to calls for strong measures to stop the practice. However, BirdLife International chose a different approach, namely to work with the hunters to change, rather than stop, the traditional hunt. As a result, the old culture of “kill as many as you can” is being replaced by a conservation ethic among older and younger hunters alike.

The artificial wetlands that hunters made for attracting shorebirds provide valuable habitat that would no longer be maintained if this tradition stopped abruptly. By agreeing to maintain these wetlands year-round instead of only during hunting season, hunters are becoming an active player in the conservation of target and non-target shorebirds and other waterbirds. For the last 2 years, one shooting swamp has even banned the hunting of American Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica), which has a global population of just 200,000 individuals. Thanks to funding from the U.S. Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act grants program, BirdLife International is negotiating with the Barbados WildFowlers Association to release data on the annual harvest of shorebirds, which will enable them to set appropriate bag limits.

BirdLife International has secured the lease on a 10-acre, abandoned shooting swamp at Woodbourne, where hunting and habitat maintenance had ceased in October 2004. During May and June 2009, two former hunters were instrumental in securing this lease and in financing the initial restoration of the wetland. Indeed, many current and former hunters have been most generous in offering advice, equipment, and other resources for restoration and improvements at what is now the Woodbourne Shorebird Refuge, on the flank of the St. Philip Shooting Swamps Important Bird Area. The West Pasco Audubon Society [Florida, USA], Bird Studies Canada, and the Peter Moores Barbados Foundation also have been generous supporters of restoration efforts at the refuge. All indications are that Woodbourne will provide significant returns in the form of increased survival of migrating shorebirds. Since restoring the habitat, 20 species of shorebirds have been recorded in the refuge. Five of these are on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2008 list of Species of Conservation Concern. More shorebird species are expected to use the refuge, including Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus), Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica), Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda), and Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Tryngites subruficollis).

These achievements are only the beginning! There are other abandoned shooting swamps that may be available for lease, and that could help form a strategic network of conservation wetlands in Barbados. This, in concert with a more responsible hunting ethic and bag limits on species of conservation concern, will help Barbados to earn a new reputation—as a haven for migrating shorebirds rather than as the place where shorebirds are shot. Towards this end, some of the hunters must be commended for starting to release shooting data to BirdLife International for analysis by the Canadian Wildlife Service. This signals a most welcome, locally driven change towards resource conservation and sustainable use. In the long term, this transparent alliance will benefit all—and the magnificent flights of shorebirds most of all.

For more information, please contact the authors: Wayne Burke, BirdLife International – Barbados Project Manager (docinbarbados@yahoo.com) or David Wege, BirdLife International – Senior Caribbean Program Manager (david.wege@birdlife.org ).