…thanks very much to everyone who contributed to our Appeal which is raising funds to support a survey in Myanmar of Spoon-billed Sandpiper wintering sites by Christoph Zöckler, Chair of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper Recovery Team. With just 300 pairs (maximum) of this Critically Endangered shorebird left on the planet they clearly need any help that’s offered, and in Christoph they have a determined and optimistic champion who is fighting very hard on their behalf.

Adult Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Simpo, South Korea, April 22 2008
Photograph copyright Richard Chandler

We set the Appeal at 500USD, donated 150USD ourselves to get the ball rolling, and thanks to some wonderful 10,000 Birds readers we hit our target inside a week! I’ve contacted Christoph to let him know, and he has sent the following message:

“Thanks very much for your and your readers’ support of our work to rescue the Spoon-billed Sandpiper. It is quite unexpected that in only a week we received so much feedback and donations. This is great news as it will help to conduct our survey of hunting and trapping in Myanmar this autumn in order to assess the scale of trapped birds in the most important wintering area for Spoon-billed Sandpiper.

With 500 USD you can go a long way in Myanmar, but in order to cover the huge area we would still need more resources, as the fuel prices for the boats have increased to ship our local bird and hunting experts right into the core wintering areas.”

So how about it folks? The target’s been reached but if you’d still like to chip in a little more it will be very gratefully received - and every single dollar, pound, or euro you donate will go STRAIGHT to Christoph. We guarantee that we don’t take anything ‘off the top’ whatsoever for any reason at all no way. Thankyou.

Dr Christoph Zöckler works with ArcCona Ecological Consulting, a network of independent consultants based in Cambridge (U.K.) and Kiel (Germany) conducting species surveys, monitoring and assessment work for nature conservation around the world. A hugely experienced conservationist he is currently the Chair of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper Recovery team.

Christoph studied biology in Kiel, Germany and Aberdeen, UK. His 25 years work experience includes 11 years with WWF Germany in nature conservation and site management, two years in a research project at the University in Bremen, and more than twelve years with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) in Cambridge at their Centre for Biodiversity (UNEP-WCMC). Apart from wet grassland management, agriculture and river restoration in Northern Europe he has been increasingly involved in the conservation of Arctic migratory waterbirds. He worked and managed various international research projects, participated in as many as 13 expeditions to Greenland and the Russian Arctic and has led four research expeditions to South and South-East Asia through his company ArcCona.