VBN and WWF Help Fund Migratory Shorebird Research at the University of Groningen

Bonn, 2 June 2012 - Vogelbescherming Nederland (VBN, BirdLife in The Netherlands) and WWF-Netherlands are funding a new chair in migratory bird ecology at the University of Groningen. The support from the two Non-Governmental Organisations includes at least 10 years of funding for PhD and postdoctoral researchers.

The chair is held by Professor Theunis Piersma, a world authority on the ecology of migratory birds, whose work includes studies on the links between shorebirds breeding in the Wadden Sea and their wintering grounds on intertidal wetlands along the West African coast. Professor Piersma was also one of the key note speakers at the 15th Anniversary of AEWA Symposium held 14-15 June 2010 in The Hague.

“Now that there is a chair that concentrates very specifically on migratory bird ecology, I expect we will be able to expand the scope of this global research even further”, said Professor Piersma. “This is urgently needed, because thanks to human co-use of their habitats, most of the migratory bird populations we have studied are declining rapidly.”

Fred Wouters, the Director of VBD said: “Scientific knowledge is crucial for the protection of migratory birds. Vogelbescherming was able to successfully challenge the Dutch mussel farming policy in the Wadden Sea partly thanks to the results of research by Theunis Piersma and his group. The insights generated by the new chair in Global Flyway Ecology will help in devising conservation strategies for this vulnerable group of birds.”

Migratory shorebirds depend on a diminishing number of wetlands, which are often seriously degraded and under threat from reclamation projects.

For more information please see: BirdLife International