Workshop for the Conservation of Shorebirds in Uruguay Held in Montevideo

At the end of August, more than 20 conservation specialists, researchers, and government representatives gathered in Montevideo, Uruguay, for the workshop entitled, “Towards the Effective Conservation of Shorebirds and their Habitats in Uruguay” as a first step towards the goal of a national stragegy for the conservation of shorebirds. The specific objective of this workshop was to generate a base of information to serve as the plan's foundation. 

The situation for shorebirds across the Americas is of great concern. Studies and monitoring efforts indicate sharp population declines or declining trends for many species, caused by contamination, loss, and ongoing deterioration of habitat, among other factors. During the workshop, and at times in small groups, the participants identified and prioritized sites and habitats that are important on a national level, recognized current threats to shorebirds and actions critical to their conservation, and discussed and formulated objectives and strategic lines of work for national action. Among the high-priority sites, Laguna de Rocha and Laguna Castillos (both in the Departamento de Rocha) and Laguna José Ignacio (in Maldonado) stand out for their particularly high records of shorebirds. The high-priority shorebird species that participants identified include Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Tryngites subruficollis), rufa subspecies of Red Knot (Calidris canutus rufa), American Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica), Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda), and Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica).

A key result of the workshop was the formation of a Shorebird Working Group for Uruguay. This group will soon initiate a process for developing the “National Strategy for the Conservation of Shorebirds” that will serve as a decision-making guide. Diego Luna Quevedo, Southern Cone Program Coordinator for the Shorebird Recovery Project (Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences) comments that, “In the current global scenario, the conservation and recovery of species and habitats is an urgent need that requires effective, national actions. In this sense, developing [national] strategies is a way to organize and capitalize on financial, human, technical, and institutional resources available in each country, and to have a national agreement about how to address the challenges that the conservation of shorebirds currently demands.”  

This workshop was convened and financed through a strategic alliance among national and international institutions including Aves Uruguay; National System for Protected Areas of Uruguay–Department of the Environment (SNAP-DINAMA); General Department of Renewable Natural Resources–Ministry of Ranching, Agriculture, and Fish (RENARE-MGAP); Manomet's Shorebird Recovery Project and WHSRN; with the support of Averaves, BirdLife International, and the Initiative for the Conservation of Natural Grasslands in the Southern Cone of South America (The Alliance for the Grasslands).

For more information, contact Diego Luna Quevedo (diego.luna@manomet.org)