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This report provides an update of population estimates for the 37 species of migratory shorebirds in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF) that regularly visit Australia. Population estimates for shorebirds in the EAAF are important in application of Australia's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). The EPBC Act is triggered when proposed actions, such as developments or land use changes, are likely to have a significant impact on important habitat for migratory shorebirds, defined by criteria outlined in the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) and the Wildlife Conservation Plan for Migratory Shorebirds (2015). In these conservation instruments, shorebird habitat is considered internationally important if it regularly supports 1% of the EAAF population of a migratory shorebird species, and nationally important, under the Wildlife Conservation Plan for Migratory Shorebirds, if it regularly supports 0.1% of an EAAF population of any migratory shorebird species (with the exception of Latham’s Snipe, for which the threshold is 0.05%).

An update of the EAAF estimates was considered important for several reasons. First, recent studies have demonstrated ongoing declines many species of migratory shorebird in Australia, so their populations may now be lower than they were at the time of the last assessment of shorebird populations in the EAAF. Secondly, there are now more shorebird count data on which to base population estimates. With the establishment of the Shorebirds 2020 program in 2007, there has been an increase in volunteer participation and site coverage in …