Good migratory bird news

This 2013 video from Dutch conservation organisation Natuurmonumenten is about a black-bellied plover couple. In winter, they are in West Africa. In summer, in the Arctic. During their long migration journeys, they need to stop. Stop at places like the sandbanks in the Oosterschelde estuary in the Netherlands.

However, there is a problem for this plover couple, and for many other migratory birds and for Oosterschelde resident seals: since the storm surge barrier was built between Oosterschelde and North Sea, water currents have changed. This means the sandbanks get smaller and smaller; leaving less space for animals.

Conservationists made a plan to stop that: add a lot of sand to the sandbanks, making them bigger again.

Today, the Dutch government has said that plan can go ahead.

Related articles

• Migratory birds, hundreds of millions counted
• Great news for migratory birds as two historic global agreements are reached to help save them
• New UN Protections Migratory Birds, Fish & Mammals
• Denver signs on to urban bird treaty
• Eurasian migratory birds need big African trees
• African migratory bird count, January 2014
• Birds counted, from Wadden Sea to Africa
• Purple heron winters in the Netherlands
• Biologist uses Spinoza Prize for godwits, spoonbills, red knots
• World Migratory Bird day and tourism