Red List for Birds 2013: White-winged Flufftail Amongst Growing List of Critically Endangered Species

Bonn/Cambridge, 27 November 2013 - The White-winged Flufftail (Sarothrura ayresi), a small, elusive, dove-sized rail endemic to Africa, has been uplisted to Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

The White-winged Flufftail is the fifth AEWA species now on the growing list of bird species listed as Critically Endangered and is one of two AEWA species which have been uplisted in the latest Red List for birds released this week by BirdLife International, the IUCN Red List Authority for birds.

Critically Endangered is the highest risk category of the IUCN Red List, comprising species that are facing an extremely high risk of becoming extinct in the wild in the immediate future.

According to BirdLife International, the White-winged Flufftail population is undergoing a very rapid and continuing decline, with an estimated total population dropping to below 250 mature individuals. Although the bird’s exact range and migratory behavior is still somewhat unclear, the bird is known to occur in Ethiopia and South Africa and there are limited records from Zimbabwe.

The rapid decline of the species is being caused by the destruction and degradation of its preferred seasonal marshland, high altitude grassland habitat, including from wetland drainage, conversion of habitat for agriculture, water abstraction and overgrazing by livestock and cutting of grasses during the breeding season as well as afforestation with eucalyptus.

“The Red List uplisting of the White-winged Flufftail to Critically Endangered is a clear signal to the international community that urgent action needs to be stepped up in both Ethiopia and South Africa to address these threats and to better understand the species’ ecological needs so that we can save it from extinction.” said Sergey Dereliev, Technical Officer at the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat. “The internationally agreed blueprint for what needs to be done to try to stop and reverse this dramatic decline of the White-winged Flufftail already exists. It is spelled out clearly in the AEWA/CMS International Single Species Action Plan for the species” said Dereliev.

Priority conservation actions have been identified and agreed in the International Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the White-winged Flufftail. The plan was developed in 2008 and subsequently adopted by the Meeting of the Parties to AEWA and the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS).

One of the AEWA-backed projects supporting both specific conservation and survey activities for the White-winged Flufftail was recently carried out at the Berga wetland, one of the core known breeding sites for the species in Ethiopia. The project was implemented by the Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society (EWNHS) through funds from the AEWA Small Grants Fund (SGF) and focused on gaining better knowledge of the species distribution range in Ethiopia and supporting activities which reduce the pressures on the wetland, for example through stimulating alternative income-generating activities.

"Although some promising conservation action benefitting the White-winged Flufftail has been stimulated by the action plan in both Ethiopia and South Africa, there is obviously a need to do much more to stop the decline” said Dereliev.

Implementation of the international action plan is supplemented by national conservation plans for the White-winged Flufftail, as well as site management plans and other ongoing activities undertaken by local Site Support Groups in both Ethiopia and South Africa. The White-winged Flufftail was also declared as South African Bird of the Year for 2013, which contributed to raising awareness and action on the ground for the species in South Africa.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is the world’s most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant, fungi and animal species, used by governments, conservationists and the private sector alike. It aims to convey the urgency and scale of conservation problems to the public and help guide policy makers.

The other AEWA-related uplisting in the latest IUCN Red List release is for the Cape Cormorant (Phalacrocorax capensis), which has been uplisted to Endangered, as key colonies in South Africa and Namibia are estimated to have undergone very rapid population declines. AEWA will soon be launching the development of a multi-species action plan for Southern African Seabirds, which will include the Cape Cormorant.