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The Scaly-sided Merganser<\/a><\/b> Mergus squamatus<\/i> is a globally Endangered, exquisitely-patterned and typically shy duck. In winter, it is most often found in small flocks on fast-flowing and relatively undisturbed stretches of river.\u00a0 Due to its rarity and its habitat-specialisation, the Scaly-sided Merganser<\/b> is a flagship species, a living symbol, of East Asian rivers. And an international Task Force has been set up by the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP) especially for the conservation of the Scaly-sided Merganser<\/b>. Birds Korea is the Korean NGO member of this Task Force<\/a>.<\/p>\n We will therefore conduct focused research on the Scaly-sided Merganser<\/b> and the rivers it depends on in January 2014.\u00a0 The main survey period will be between January 11th<\/sup> and 18th<\/sup>.\u00a0 We welcome your support and involvement \u2013 in fund-raising and fieldwork.<\/p>\n If you would like to help support<\/a> or involve in this work, please contact here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Please Note<\/i>: All research participation costs for paid-up Birds Korea members will be covered by Birds Korea; non-members are required to cover their own expenses and will be asked to donate a daily participation charge of 100,000 KW, to help support further work for this species.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Why \u201cScalies\u201d?<\/i><\/p>\n Why should we or anybody work to conserve the Scaly-sided Merganser<\/a><\/b>?\u00a0 In addition to clear moral and ethical obligations, the survival of the Scaly-sided Merganser<\/b> depends on the health of rivers and river catchments. Conserving this species therefore requires conserving the best rivers and their catchments \u2013 which of course are also vital to the well-being of many other species, including people. Conservation of rivers and the Scaly-sided Merganser<\/b> is in our own and the national interest.<\/p>\n The need for conservation of \u201cScalies<\/b>\u201d has therefore already become a priority for the governments of the region, through their support of the EAAFP\u2019s Scaly-sided Merganser Task Force<\/b>. The need for river and biodiversity conservation is also fully recognised by governments who have joined the Ramsar \u201cWise Use of Wetlands\u201d Convention and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). CBD, for example, calls on governments to ensure by 2020 that \u201cthe conservation status (of threatened species), particularly of those most in decline, (be) improved and sustained\u201d and that \u201cthe rate of loss of all natural habitats (be) at least halved and where feasible brought close to zero\u201d.\u00a0 The ROK is an active member of both of these conventions. Our nation hosted the 2008 Ramsar Convention conference and will host the 2014 CBD conference. We need to support our nation\u2019s efforts to fulfil these important conservation obligations.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n What kind of work<\/i>?<\/p>\n Conservation of birds and their habitats always requires getting the best information to the right people at the right time in the right way. Our work for the Scaly-sided Merganser<\/b> in 2014 will include research, analysis, and information-sharing, aimed towards the next intergovernmental CBD conference, to be held here in the ROK in October 2014.<\/p>\n Already, a small team of Birds Koreans has been making multiple counts of Scalies<\/b> along one river, at least monthly in 2011 \/ 2012 and again in the winter of 2013 \/ 2014. Multiple images of the site have been taken and details recorded.\u00a0 In 2012, Birds Koreans also surveyed more than ten additional rivers nationwide that were suspected to support the species. We counted 140-149 Scalies<\/b>. This count compares with only 30 found nationwide the same winter by the annual nationwide Winter Bird Census, coordinated by the Ministry of Environment. Our research confirms both that the Scaly-sided Merganser<\/b> is easy to overlook during general bird surveys, and that several of the rivers that the species depends on are still not regularly surveyed.<\/p>\n Our research this past decade has also confirmed that the species is shy and local, and that its \u201cnatural habitat\u201d continues to be disturbed and degraded.\u00a0 As we predicted, the ecologically disastrous Four Rivers project impacted many sites between 2009 and 2012. River-side vegetation has been removed, rivers have been dredged and wide bicycle trails have been constructed causing much disturbance to once quiet rivers. These changes have contributed to declines in many species of waterbird at these sites and nationally.\u00a0 Many of the rivers used by Scaly-sided Mergansers<\/b> even now, in 2013, are still being converted into \u201cparks\u201d, further reducing their value to biodiversity in general and this species in particular.<\/p>\n In 2014, between January 11th<\/sup> and 18th<\/sup>, three or more teams will therefore again survey all known Scaly-sided Merganser<\/b> sites nationwide, and survey additional stretches of river that might support the species.\u00a0 This research, and future survey work and analysis, will help us to:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How will the results be used?<\/i><\/p>\n To ensure that the results reach a wide audience, we will publish them in English and Korean on our websites, and we will pass them on to other members of the international Scaly-sided Merganser Task Force<\/b>.\u00a0 This includes the national Ministry of Environment. There is some possibility too that the results might also be published as part of a peer-reviewed regional review of the species.<\/p>\n If funding can be found, the results and analysis will then also be included in a special Birds Korea Report, now being written as part of our contribution to the 2014 CBD Conference.\u00a0 This report, as proposed, will provide a national overview of changes in bird populations during the past century. It will include case studies on representative species of key habitat types, and it will highlight the Scaly-sided Merganser<\/b> and the rivers it depends on.<\/p>\n Please contact us if you have more questions and would like to support this work<\/a>!<\/p>\n Nial Moores PhD, Director, Birds Korea, December 20th The Scaly-sided Merganser Mergus squamatus is a globally Endangered, exquisitely-patterned and typically shy duck. In winter, it is most often found in small flocks on fast-flowing and relatively undisturbed stretches of … read more<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11186,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[112],"class_list":["post-11281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-projects","tag-scaly-sided-merganser"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11281"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12155,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11281\/revisions\/12155"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nFor more on our work on Scaly-sided Mergansers <\/b>in 2014, please continue reading:<\/p>\n![\"SSM-1\"](\"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/SSM-1-e1387791050921.jpg\")
<\/a>Scaly-sided Merganser<\/b> Mergus squamatus<\/i>, ROK \u00a9 Jason Loghry \/ Birds Korea<\/center><\/p>\n![\"SSM-2\"](\"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/SSM-2-e1387791372973.jpg\")
<\/a>Habitat degradation of river used by Scaly-sided Merganser, December 2013 \u00a9 Birds Korea <\/center><\/p>\n\n
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\nThank you for your support of this project.<\/b><\/center><\/H4><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"