Q-AOS Projects

Funding

Transdisciplinary Research Funding (Kyushu University)

Collaborators

Kojiro SHO (Assoc. Prof., KU), Yuichiro FUJIOKA (Assoc. Prof., KU), Kumar BHATTA (Academic Fellow, Q-AOS)

Short Description

Asia Oceania Region is the most important flyway for its bird diversity and rapid decrease of bird population (Amano et al. 2010; WWF 2015 / Fig.1). Black-faced Spoonbills, a Red-list IB classified bird species, breed in Korean Peninsula and Far East Russia and overwinter in Southeast Asia, China, Taiwan and Japan (Fig.2). In wintertime, you can observe this charming bird in Imazu tidal flat just next to Ito Campus, Kyushu University and some other wetlands in Kyushu and Okinawa in Japan. According to the observational research done in Imazu tidal flat, Black-faced Spoonbills utilize not only the wetlands, but also the surrounding environment including paddy fields, ditches, and irrigation canals (Shimizu 2021). To protect the bird species, it is not enough to designate the wetlands as protected areas, but also to conserve the surrounding environment through collaboration with variety of stakeholders.
This project targets not only the transboundary governance of the flyway and wetlands, but also to continue the monitoring of bird species and to promote the social businesses that enhance the conservation efforts. This project is closely collaborating with the bigger umbrella project called “Itoshima Biodiversity Project” which is a joint project with Kyushu Open University (QOU) and seeks for obtaining the big funding and contributing to the sustainability of Asia and Oceanian regions. We believe that migratory bird project becomes the symbol of peace-building and collaboration among Asian and Oceanian countries.

Figure１．9 Flyways in the World ©EAAFP
（Red part is the East Asia-Australian Flyway）

Figure２．Black-faced Spoonbill in Imazu Tidal Flat
（Photo by Takehiko SHIMIZU）