Threats to migratory birds
Overhunting

Join the Bird Monitoring TeamMonitoring Sites 1000
Land Bird Survey

This monitoring scheme is a program of the Ministry of theEnvironment of Japan. It is managed jointly by the Wild Bird
Society of Japan and the Japan Bird Research Association.
Surveyors are always welcome. If you are in Japan andinterested to participate, please contact:

Many birds are hunted for food,
pet trade or mercy release. In
many cases, these practices
are illegal. Good legislationand enforcement are requiredin each country in order toreduce poaching.

© Lu Jianshu/ Dalian Bird Protection Team
陸建樹／大連護鳥志願者団隊

Habitat destruction

Wetlands and grassland habitats
are diminishing because of development and conversion into farmlands.
Protected areas should be designated at suitable habitats. Climatechange will also result in environmental changes.

Agrochemicals

Excessive use of agrochemicals
can reduce the number of insects
that birds feed on. The accumulation of agrochemicals in thebody will also aﬀect the survivalof the birds. Awareness raisingon the appropriate use of suchchemicals is important especiallyin the Southeast Asian countries.

Safeguarding nature with community
The above threats cannot all be solved just by thelaw enforcement of government agencies.
Education and raising awareness in the local
community is also essential. The more people
understand the issues, the easier is tochange public attitude towards wildlife.

Letʼs study andrecord birds of Asia〜〜Monitoring
Monitoring andand conservationconservation ofof land
land birds
birds inin Asia
Asia〜〜

Monitoring Sites 1000 Oﬃce
Nature Conservation Division,Wild Bird Society of Japan
Tel: 03-5436-2633 Fax: 03-5436-2635
e-mail: moni@wbsj.org

Learn more about
the East Asia Land Bird Monitoring Scheme
The coordinator of the scheme is based at the BirdLife
International Tokyo Oﬃce.
Contact:BirdLife International Tokyo
Tel: 03-6204-2941 Fax: 03-6204-2942
e-mail: simba.chan@birdlife.org

Supporting Organizations◆You can download this leaﬂet from the websites below.
Wild Bird Society of Japan
https://www.wbsj.org/activity/conservation/
research-study/monitoring1000/

Japan Bird Research Association
https://www.bird-research.jp/1̲katsudo/forest/moni.html

In Asia, we know some land birds are suﬀering greatdecline. Our familiar species may also be disappearing
gradually. We need a scientiﬁc and international scheme to

Published by Wildlife Division, Nature Conservation Bureau,
Ministry of the Environment of Japan
Supported by BirdLife International Tokyo
Designed by Kanae Okubo
March 2020

understand the situation and revert the decline.
＜In this leaﬂet, the term ʻland birdsʼ refers tomigratory birds that live in forest and grassland.＞Are migratory
land birds decreasing?
Some species of land birds in Asia, such as the Yellow-breasted
Bunting and the Rustic Bunting, are known to be declining
in numbers.
Yellow-breasted Bunting© Makoto Hasebe

Rustic Bunting

Land bird monitoring in Asia
The publication of ʻSilent Springʼ in 1962 triggered a growing concern on environmental issues in western countries.
Since the 1970s, more than 20 European countries started
their land bird monitoring scheme with good progress incitizen science.
On the other hand, in Asia we still lack a joint system ofmonitoring. We almost have no information on population
status of many species.

© Allen Chan/HKBWSThe Yellow-breasted Bunting has suﬀered a drastic decline
in recent decades. In 2002 it was still ranked as Least
Concern on the IUCN Red List, but in 2017, after the decline
was found to be over 80% globally within three generations,
it was uplisted as Critically Endangered.

Monitoring Sites 1000

The Ministry of the Environment of Japan designatedmonitoring sites all over Japan for long-term collection of
fundamental environmental information in order tounderstand the changes in quality and quantity ofenvironmental factors at earlier stages.
The land bird monitoring under this program is the only
nationwide well-covered scheme in Asia. Over 400monitoring sites in Japan with about 600 surveyors
participated. For long-term continuation of data supply,
we need more people to join this monitoring scheme.
http://www.biodic.go.jp/moni1000/index.html© Bird Research

The start of international cooperationof land bird monitoring in East Asia

Deduction of population trend of
the Yellow-breasted Bunting
from monitoring results of ninesites over Eurasia. In 2013 thepopulation was 84.3 ‒ 94.7%
diminished when compared withthat of 1980 (Kamp et al.
2015)

Not only the two species mentioned above, other land birds
using the same migratory routes are also likely to beaﬀected by poaching, agrochemicals and climate change.
However, we do not know the precise trends of populationand distribution changes of most species. To understand thestatus of migratory land birds and to promote conservationof important habitats, we need a long-term monitoring
system covering locations along the ﬂyway.

Japan, P.R.China, Republic of Korea, and Russia launched the East Asia Land Bird Monitoring Scheme in March 2015, under the bilateral convention and agreements on theconservation of migratory birds, because all four countries showed the common concern
on decline of migratory land birds in Asia in the meetings.
In the meetings in 2018, the four countries decided to compile information of bunting
species based on banding results. The Monitoring Sites 1000 Scheme of Japan could
serve as a model for developing monitoring schemes in other Asian countries too.