See the document at:
https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/bitstream/handle/11374/2355/AMBI_Workplan_2019-2025_revised_May_2021.pdf?sequence=5&isAllowed=y
"Priority Conservation issues
1. The loss or degradation of terrestrial and pelagic habitats along the flyway is a key conservation issue for this work
plan. The underlying threats are numerous and include climate change effects; expansion of white geese on tundra
habitats; anthropogenic impairment of interior and coastal habitats; direct take of shorebirds via legal and illegal
harvest; and plastic pollution in pelagic areas.
2. Climate change is associated with loss of shorebird productivity in the Arctic, changes in habitat quality and quantity
throughout the flyway, and effects on shorebird migration. Indirect consequences of human activity, including habitat
destruction by overabundant populations of Snow (Chen caerulescens) and Ross’s (Chen rossii) geese (collectively
referred to as ‘white geese’), are of concern for shorebird conservation on portions of the breeding grounds.
Development of coastal infrastructure, such as farming that necessitates impoundment or draining of coastal wetlands
and disturbance at shorebird roosting sites, are issues directly related to human activity in the southern parts of the
AMBI Americas Flyway
Priority species
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Lisa Pirie/
Environment and Climate Change Canada
Red Phalarope
WHSRN
Buff-breasted Sandpiper
Shiloh Schulte/USFWS
Red-necked Phalarope
USFWS
Red Knot (ssp. rufa and roselaari)
Loss, degradation and change in land use due to energy production, mining and agriculture (annual non-
timber crops, livestock farming and ranching) are also impacting inland habitats important for breeding, migration and
wintering of Arctic birds. The effects of plastic pollution in the world ́s oceans on Arctic shorebirds are only beginning to
be understood. However, due to the scale of this issue both in geographic extent and amount of plastic in the ocean it
is well anticipated that the impacts could be significant."
