Atlas of Key Sites for Anatidae in the East Asian Flyway

Annex I
Asian Anatidae Atlas Project
Call for further information
March 1999

Conservation of birds largely depends on the conservation of natural habitats that the birds use through their annual cycle. Wetlands International with financial support from the Environment Agency of Japan has published an Atlas of Key Sites for Anatidae in the East Asian Flyway to assist in the identification of internationally important sites for Anatidae (ducks, geese and swans). The Atlas reviews the distribution of Anatidae species in the region, defines population boundaries and identifies important sites for these species. The Atlas is a valuable reference for government conservation agencies, technical experts, NGOs and local communities seeking to learn more about important sites and of the gaps in our knowledge. The project is part of an international collaborative effort to regularly compile published and unpublished information to promote conservation of sites. Data collated by the project is being stored in a central database that is being updated on an ongoing basis (the attached table provides information on the structure of the database).

The next stage of the project will be to produce an atlas of internationally important sites for Anatidae for the Asian region. In geographic coverage, it will extend across Russia from the Ural Mountains east to Far East, Eastern, Central, Southern, and Southeastern Asia and Alaska (USA). The Atlas will define population flyway boundaries and identify important sites in the Asian region for Anatidae, and provide a brief description on each species.

Two basic criteria, compatible with the Ramsar criteria for identification of wetlands of international importance are being used to identify sites:
(a) 20,000 individuals of total number of Anatidae supported; and
(b) 1% of a population of an Anatidae species.

In order to incorporate all available data, we seek the co-operation and participation of people who possess this information. Published and unpublished information is needed to identify key sites for each species throughout its range and we seek the following data:

• Name of the site;
• Co-ordinates (latitude, longitude) of the approximate geographic centre of the site;
• Protected status of the site: protected / partially protected / not protected / unknown;
• Population size / estimate of Anatidae that the site has supported: number, species, date/month/year, published or unpublished references.

To find out more about the project, kindly contact the project co-ordinators.

Project Co-ordinators:
Yoshihiko Miyabayashi Anatidae Flyway Officer of Wetlands International - Japan, JAWGP, Minamimachi 16, Wakayanagi, 989-5502 Japan TEL&FAX +81-228-32-2592 E-mail: yym@mub.biglobe.ne.jp	Taej Mundkur Wetlands International - Asia Pacific, 3A39, 4th Floor, Block A Kelana Centre Point, No 3, Jalan SS7/19 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia Tel: +60-3-704 6770 Fax: +60-3-707 6772 Email: taej@wiap.nasionet.net URL: http://ngo.asiapac.net/wetlands/

Database structure of Asian Anatidae Data for Atlas Project

To collate information on the Anatidae in Asia, a customised database has been developed by Wetlands International. The database is broadly compatible to the Asian Waterfowl Census database developed and operated by Wetlands International and is being used to store information of the census. The Anatidae Atlas database structure has been developed to permit use in a variety of commercially available software and has been tested on dBASE IV™, Microsoft Access™, and Microsoft Excel™.

The accompanying table provides a structure of the database. Abbreviations listed under Field Type refer to C - Character, N - Numeric, L - Logical, D - Date data fields.

No.	FIELD NAME	FIELD TYPE	FIELD LEN	FIELD DEC	CONTENT
1	COUNTRY	C	16		Name of country
2	SITE	C	40		Name of site
3	LATITUDE	N	5	2	Degrees of latitude from the equator
4	LATSOUTH	L	1		Only select yes if site is south of the equator
5	LONGITUDE	N	6	2	Degrees of longitude
6	LONGWEST	L	1		Only select yes if site is in the Western Hemisphere
7	SITECODE	C	9		Sitecode for office purposes only (do not enter this field)
8	NUM	N	6		Number for site (if a national code exists)
9	IMPORTANCE	C	6		Criterion meeting data as: "20000": >20,000 "1%": >1% of a population "Anatid": important for all types of Anatidae "goose": important for only Goose "swans": important for only Swans "ducks": important for only Ducks "unfav": important for species with least favourable conservation status
10	SEASON	C	20		wintering / staging / autumn / spring / breeding / moulting
11	NAME	C	50		Species / subspecies scientific name for data
12	SPECIES	C	5		5 character code for office purposes only (do not enter this field)
13	COUNT	N	8	0	Exact number of birds counted during a single count
14	DATE	D	8		Exact count date of the single count
15	POPULATION	N	8	0	Population size counted or estimated or averaged (based on more than one count)
16	DATAYEAR	N	4	0	Year of counts / estimates
17	DATAMONTH	C	3		Month of counts / estimates
18	PERIOD	C	15		Period of years if population size is estimated or averaged
19	AREA	N	5	0	Area of site in hectares
20	HABITAT	C	4		Principle habitat type(s), list up to 4 types: 0 Open sea, bay, strait; 1 Estuary; 2 Brackish or saline lake, lagoon, salt pans; 3 River, stream, canal; 4 Freshwater marsh, flooded area; 5 Freshwater lake, pond; 6 Reservoir, barrage, tank; 7 Gravel pit; 8 Aquaculture pond (fish or shrimp); 9 Grassland, arable land; A Mangrove, nipah; B Freshwater swamp forest; C Freshwater peat forest; D Rocky beach/shore; E Sandy beach/dune; F Mudflat (tidal/river); G Sewage farm/ponds; H Saltmarsh; L Delta; U Peatland; V Alpine/Tundra; W Shrub dominated; X Tree dominated; Y Oases (springs)
21	OWNERSHIP	C	2		Ownership Status: 1 fully protected, 2 partially protected, 3 not protected, 0 unknown
22	PROTECTION	C	2		Protection Status: 1 by government, 2 by tradition, 3 private ownership, 4 unprotected, 0 unknown
23	RAMSAR	L	1		Select yes only if site is a Ramsar site
24	REFNUM	N	6	0	Number for published reference of data
25	REFSHRT	C	40		Reference of data

Atlas of Key Sites for Anatidae in the East Asian Flyway

Annex II A Preliminary List of Key Sites that support at least 20,000 Anatidae in the East Asian Flyway

A wetland is identified as being of international importance if it regularly supports 20,000 waterfowl (Ramsar Criterion 3a). This criterion refers to all waterfowl as defined by the Convention, including Anatidae. A preliminary list of key sites that support 20,000 or more individuals of Anatidae, comprising of one or more species identified in the Project is presented here. The list includes sites identified on the basis of single or more counts and estimates of the number of single or more Anatidae species. These sites are presented in the accompanying table and map.

Information on key sites presented in the table is as follows:

• Site: The name is taken from the source of the data in most cases, while others follow A Directory of Asian Wetlands (Scott 1989). The name of a site may be confusing since there are different ways of naming a site in the English language. An asterisk mark indicates that the site is on the Ramsar List (as at 7 March 1999). A site with an asterisk mark in parenthesis indicates that the site contains within it, one or more area(s) on the Ramsar List.;
• Co-ordinates: the approximate geographic centre of the site in degrees and minutes;
• Protected: the conservation status of the site: fully protected / partially protected / not protected / no data available (blank);
• Season: the time of the year during which the site is important for birds: wintering / staging / breeding / moulting;
• Period: the period of data; and
• Ref: the source of data; where derived from the AWC database and the national count in Japan these are indicated as AWC / EAJcount, respectively.

A preliminary list of key sites that support at least 20,000 Anatidae in the East Asian Flyway.
An asterisk mark indicates that the site is on the Ramsar List (as at 7 March 1999). A site with an asterisk mark in parenthesis indicates that the site contains within it, one or more area(s) on the Ramsar List.

Site	Coordinates	Protected	Season	Period	Ref
USA
Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta	N6100W16500	Fully	Breeding	1985-1998	Bowman et al. 1998
(*) Alaska Peninsula	N5600W16100	Partially	Staging	1981-1998	Petersen 1994,USFWS unpubl.
Russia
Lena River Delta	N7300E12500	Partially	Moulting	1980-1993	Degtyarev 1995
Yana-Indigirka Tundra	N7130E14000	Partially	Summering	mid 1980s	Degtyarev 1990
Wrangel Island	N7130W17930	Fully	Nesting	1997summer	Baranyuk, V.V. pers.comm.
Yana River Delta	N7130E14000	Partially	Moulting	1980-1993	Degtyarev 1995
Indigirka & Alazeya Lowlands	N7000E14830	Partially	Moulting	1980-1993	Degtyarev 1995
Anadyr Lowlands	N6500E17830	Partially	Summering	early 1990s	Kondratyev 1992
Penzhina Valley	N6215E16640	Partially	Summering	early1980s	Gusakov 1988, Gerasimov & Gerasimov 1997b
* Karaginskiy Island NR	N5852E16353	Fully	Summering	-	Gerasimov 1995
Kharchinskoe Lake NR	N5632E16011	Fully	Staging	-	Gerasimov 1995
* Moroshechnaya River NR	N5630E15610	Fully	Summering	-	Gerasimov 1995
Shantar Islands	N5430E13730		Staging	1991-1992	Roslyakov & Roslyakov 1996
Zhupanova Lagoon NR	N5335E15950	Fully	Summering	-	Gerasimov 1995
Pil'tun Bay	N5310E14322		Summering	1990summer	Poyarkov & Rozanov 1998
Lunskiy Bay	N5128E14354		Autumn	-	Revyakina & Zykov 1996
* Zeya - Bureya Lowland	N5030E12830	Partially	Spring	1991-1994	Dugintsov 1996
* Lake Bolon	N4948E13630	Partially	Spring	1970s	Bocharnikov & Shibaev 1996
Aniva Bay	N4600E14200		Spring	1976-1992	Nechaev 1996
* Lake Khanka	N4453E13226	Partially	Spring	-	Bocharnikov & Shibaev 1996
Lower Tumangan River	N4229E13054	Partially	Spring	1961-1995	Litvinenko & Shibaev 1996
Korea, Republic of
Han gang Estuary	N3744E12640	Partially	Wintering	1992/93winter	AWC
Sapkyo Lake	N3653E12651	Not	Wintering	1990-1996	AWC, Kim et al. 1996
Chonsu Lake	N3640E12625	Partially	Wintering	1992-1996	AWC, Kim et al. 1996
Nonsan Reservoir	N3620E12710		Wintering	1995/96winter	Kang & Cho 1996
Kum River	N3604E12649	Not	Wintering	1989-1996	AWC
Kum gang Estuary	N3552E12640	Not	Wintering	1994-1996	Kim et al. 1996, Kang & Cho 1996
Sannam, Junam & Tongpan Reservoirs	N3518E12841	Partially	Wintering	1987-1996	AWC, Kang & Cho 1996, Kim et al. 1996
Nakdong gang Estuary	N3508E12854	Partially	Wintering	1992/93winter	Won 1995
Japan
* Lake Kuccharo-ko	N4510E14220	Fully	Staging	-	Hamatonbetsu Town pers. comm.
Lake Miyajimanuma	N4320E14143	Not	Staging	-	Miyabayashi 1994
* Lake Utonai-to	N4242E14143	Fully	Staging	-	Miyabayashi 1994
Mawarizeki Reservoir	N4045E14020	Fully	Wintering	1990-94	Abe et al. 1995
Otomonuma Reservoir	N4010E14000	Partially	Wintering	-	Miyabayashi 1994
River Mogami-gawa	N3853E13952	Partially	Wintering	1996/97winter	EAJcount
Lakes Ooyama Kamiike & Shimoike	N3845E13946	Fully	Wintering	1996/97winter	EAJcount
* Lakes Izunuma & Uchinuma	N3843E14107	Fully	Wintering	1990-1997	Abe et al. 1995, JAWGP unpubl.
Lake Kabukurinuma	N3840E14110	Not	Wintering	1996-1998	JAWGP unpubl.
Kahokugata Rice Fields	N3638E13640	Partially	Wintering	1996/97winter	EAJcount
Tokyo Bay, Inner Area	N3539E13955	Partially	Wintering	1990-1997	Abe et al. 1995, EAJcount
Lake Nakaumi	N3528E13311	Partially	Wintering	1990-1997	Abe et al. 1995, EAJcount, SB-WBSJ 1998
Lake Shinji-ko	N3526E13252	Partially	Wintering	1996/97winter	SB-WBSJ 1998
* Lake Biwa-ko	N3515E13605	Partially	Wintering	1989,94	Abe et al. 1995
Lake Hamana-ko	N3445E13735	Partially	Wintering	1997/98winter	Shizuoka Pref. unpubl.
Shiokawa Tidalflats	N3441E13717	Partially	Wintering	-	Scott 1989
China
Sanjiang Provincial Nature Reserve	N4755E13422	Fully	Breeding/ Staging	1997-1998	Sanjiang NR unpubl.
Xingkai Hu	N4515E13230	Fully	Staging	1988spring	Li et al. 1994
Nansi Hu	N3453E11658	Fully	Wintering	-	Scott 1989
Linhonghe Kou (Lianyungang Coast)	N3430E11920	Fully	Wintering	1991/92winter	AWC
Jiangsu Coast	N3400E12030	Fully	Wintering	1990/91winter	AWC
Sheyang Salt Works	N3341E12032	Fully	Wintering	1991/92winter	AWC
Yancheng Shore	N3330E12015	Fully	Wintering	1989-1993	AWC
Hongze Hu	N3320E11830	Partially	Wintering	1989/90winter	AWC
* Dongting Hu	N2911E11225	Partially	Wintering	1991-1997	AWC, Lei, G. et al. unpubl.
* Poyang Lake	N2854E11616	Fully	Wintering	1987-1990	AWC
Caohai Nature Reserve	N2650E10415	Fully	Wintering	1992/93winter	AWC
* Mai Po and Deep Bay wetlands	N2232E11400	Fully	Wintering	1993-1997	Young L pers.comm.
Thailand
Beung Boraphet	N1542E10015	Fully	Wintering	1990/91winter	AWC
Cha-Vak Lake	N1455E10004	Fully	Wintering	1993/94winter	AWC
Kasetsart University (Kampaengsaen)	N1350E10005		Wintering	1989/90winter	AWC
Vietnam
Dong Thap Muoi in Mekong Delta	N1047E10540	Partially	Wintering	1987/88winter	Scott 1989
Tram Chin Nature Reserve	N0940E10540	Fully	Wintering	1992/93winter	AWC
Myanmar
Inle Lake	N2010E09702	Not	Wintering	1989/90winter	AWC

Atlas of Key Sites for Anatidae in the East Asian Flyway

Acknowledgements

A workshop to develop an Action Plan for Anatidae during the 1995 Northeast Asia and North Pacific Environment Forum, Kushiro, Japan, 25-29 September 1995, marked the beginning of regular information exchange on the status of Anatidae populations in the East Asian Flway. National reports from the most of the range countries were presented at the workshop and were made by: Schagdarsuren BOLDBAATAR (Mongolian Ornithological Foundation); Jianjian LU (East China Normal University); U-Il PAK (Center for Natural Protection, D.P.R. Korea); Pyong-Oh WON (Kyung Hee University, Republic of Korea); and Manabu ABE (Wetlands International - Japan).

Since the workshop, during the course of drafting an Action Plan and a proposal for an Anatidae Site Network in the East Asian Flyway, many reports have been received from Anatidae specialist in the flyway: Dirk V. Derksen and the staff of Alaska Biological Science Center, USGS-BRD; Alexander V. Andreev & Alexander V. Kondratyev (Institute of Biological Problems of the North, Magadan); Nikolay N. Gerasimov & Yuri N. Gerasimov (Kamchatka Institute of Ecology); Evgeny E. Syroechkovski Jr. (Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Moscow) and the members of Goose and Swan Study Group of Eastern Europe and Northern Asia; Jin-Han KIM & Jin-Young PARK (Forestry Research Institute, Republic of Korea); and David S. Melville & Lew Young (WWF Hong Kong).

These reports have formed the basis for compiling information on the status of Anatidae populations on a flyway basis. So the authors would like to record their special thanks to these experts for their contribution.

The authors would like to thank the Wetlands International Specialist Group coordinators, Asian Waterfowl Census national co-ordinators and species experts who responded to our requests for assistance so enthusastically, and provided quality information.

The Specialist Group coordinators were Stefan Pihl (National Environmental Research Institute, Denmark, for the Seaduck Specialist Group; Jeff Kirby (Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT)) for the Duck Specialist Group; Bart S. Ebbinge (DLO-Instituut voor Bos- en Natuuronderzoek) for the Goose Specialist Group; Eileen C. Rees (WWT) for the Swan Specialist Group; and Andy Green and Baz Hughes (WWT) for the Threatened Waterfowl Specialist Group.

Efforts of all national coordinators of the montoring schemes that supply information as part of Asian Waterfowl Census (AWC) are acknowledged. This data is essential to the production of international overviews like this Atlas. The hard work and contributions of all the AWC volunteers who had undertaken tremendous work, often under the most difficult of conditions is the basis of this information. All their efforts are greatly appreciated.

Comments and hitherto unpublished information of the highest possible standard were received from a great number of experts and we are grateful for their support: Manabu ABE, Seiichi ABE, John Ø. Albertsen, Alexander V. Andreev, Kenji ARIMA, Vasily V. Baranyuk, Jeb Barzen, Dashnamjilyn BATDELGER, Vladimir N. Bocharnikov, Schagdarsuren BOLDBAATAR, Geoff Carey, Bazarsadyn CHIMED-OCHIR, Jong Ryol CHONG, Carlo Custodio, Dirk V. Derksen, Bart S. Ebbinge, Koh'ichi ENDO, Igor V. Fefelov, Rokuro FUJII, Yuzo FUJIMAKI, B. GANBOLD, Nikolay N. Gerasimov, Yuri N. Gerasimov, Nikolai Germogenov, Prakash Gole, Andy Green, Masaharu HATAKEYAMA, Sang-Hoon HAN, Hideyuki HIJIKATA, Takaaki HOSAKA, Baz Hughes, Janet Hunter, Hiroshi IIJIMA, Hiroshi KAWACHI, Sergei P. Kharitonov, Jin-Han KIM, Shinsuke KIMURA, Jeff Kirby, Ken'ichiro KONDO, Alexander V. Kondratyev, Arsieny V. Krechmar, Kunihiko KUDO, Sadahiro KUSANO, Simon J. Lane, Gang LEI, Wenfa LI, Xiao Min LI, Konstantin E. Litvin, Jianjian LU, Yiqing MA, Takeyoshi MATSUO, David S. Melville, Masahiro MIYAZAKI, Tomoo MIZUTANI, Nial Moores, Vladimir Morozov, Masayuki MURAI, Akio NAGATO, Takashi NISHIDE, Yus Rusila Noor, Kazuhiro OHDATE, Koji OH'HATA, Tomoko OSAKA, U-Il PAK, Jin-Young PARK, Margaret Petersen, Stefan Pihl, Nikolay D. Poyarkov, Vladimir I. Pozdnyakov, Fawen QIAN, Eileen C. Rees, Helena V. Rogacheva, Fumio SATO, Hitoshi SATO, Takashi SAWADA, Joel A. Schmutz, Hisashi SUGAWA, Fumio SUGIMORI, Takuo SUGISAWA, Damdingiin SUMIYA, Evgeny E. Syroechkovski Sr., Evgeny E. Syroechkovski Jr., Evgeny V. Syroechkovski, Harutaka TAKUBO, Hidenori TOH'JO, Kimimasa TOKIKUNI, Kenzo TOMIYA, Natsagdorjiin TSEVEENMYADAG, David H. Ward, Hisashi WATANABE, Pyong-Oh WON, Hiroko YAMAMOTO, Sergei Yerokhov, A.K. Yurlov, Lew Young and Christoph Zöckler.

National compilations of key sites for Anatidae from selected Central and South Asian countries will be used in developing the next stage of the Atlas project - an Asian Anatidae Atlas. Accounts for India (by Asad Rahmani and M. Zafar-ul Islam); Uzbekistan (Elena A. Kreuzberg-Mukhina, Daniil Yu Kashkarov, Yevgenia N. Lanovenko, Olim P. Nazarov and Elmurat Shernazarov); and Pakistan (Ahmad Khan) received to date have been used in this Atlas. We are grateful to all these experts for allowing us to use their unpublished summaries.

Tim and Carol Inskipp very kindly provided a complimentary copy of the very fine new publication Birds of the Indian Subcontinent, that arrived the week before this publication goes to print. Species distribution maps and other information contained in the book have been most helpful in determining the range of species in this region.

The authors would like to thank logistic supported for the East Asian project by: Paul M. Rose, Simon Delany, Cecilia Reyes, Scott Frazier, Marcel Silvius & Olga Anisimova (Wetlands International - Africa, Europe, Middle East); Paul M. Rose (Joint Nature Conservation Committee, UK); Des Callaghan & Baz Hughes (WWT); Rebecca D'Cruz (Ramsar Convention Bureau); Bert Lenten (AEWA Secretariat); Douglas Hykle (UNEP/CMS Secretariat); Derek A. Scott; Doug Watkins (Wetlands International - Oceania); Simba CHAN (Wetlands International - Japan / Wild Bird Society of Japan); Kelin CHEN and Yuan Jun (Wetlands International - China Programme).

The authors are most grateful to Seng Yam LIM for painstakingly producing the species maps (under very difficult circumstances) and mastered a new mapping software in the process. The authors would like to thank the members of the Japanese Association for Wild Geese Protection for supporting the project and this publication including input of data: Toshihiro HOSOI, Toshio IKEUCHI, Shigeki IWABUCHI, Masayuki KURECHI, Yutaka SABANO, Mayumi SATO, Tetsuo SHIMADA and Sachiko UEMURA.

Joost van der Ven (previous Interim Director of Wetlands International - Asia Pacific) provided enthusiastic support for this project. Staff of Wetlands International - Asia Pacific assisted in a number of ways: Koji TAGI provided information, Ayu Rahayu assisted in editing the publication, and others provided support and encouragement throughout. Kaori MATSUI, Miki SASAKI and Naoko TAKENAKA of Wetlands International - Japan for the secretarial and administrative tasks.

Financial support for undertaking the Atlas project along with the Action Plan and Site Network Proposal for the Anatidae in the East Asian Flyway and for the production of this publication was kindly provided by the Environment Agency of Japan and orgainsed by Kojiro MORI and Fumiko NAKAO. The authors would like to thank them for their significant contribution towards the conservation of Anatidae in the Flyway.

A financial contribution to the project was made available by Wetlands International - Asia Pacific and we are thankful to Joost van der Ven and Arthur Mitchell for providing this support.

TM would like to record his extreme gratitude to Samhita and our children, Arnav and Aseem for encouraging and managing to do without him for several days and nights at a time to permit completion of this project. Samhita kindly assisted by editing parts of the report.