SINGAPORE – An avid bird watcher for about 30 years, Dr Yong Ding Li would take field trips from the muddy, marshy wetlands of China to various parts of South-east Asia, to observe flocks of migratory birds making a pit-stop for food and rest before continuing their journey down south.between July and December, to escape the harsh winters of the Northern Hemisphere – where they breed – and seek refuge in the warmer climate of South-east Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
For his extensive work on migratory shorebirds, Dr Yong received the prestigious Early Career Conservationist Award – the Oscars of the biodiversity world – on July 24, at a conference in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali. Coastal wetlands are often reclaimed or developed in countries like Japan, China, South Korea, Vietnam and Thailand, which are home to vast expanses of mudflats and mangrove swamps.Seeing the extent of habitat loss propelled Dr Yong to begin conservation work for the species in 2016, which involved establishing more wetland protected areas and raising public awareness of their decline with coastal communities.
Prior to joining Birdlife as a regional coordinator for the Asia-Pacific region in 2017, Dr Yong had a year-long stint at the Arctic Council’s biodiversity working group and was a junior college teacher for four years. The Arctic Council is based in Iceland, but Dr Yong did remote work while in Australia.
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