Reversing the Decline in a Threatened Species: The Black-Faced Spoonbill Platalea minor

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The black-faced spoonbill Platalea minor is a species endemic to the coastal fringes and archipelagos of East Asia. The global population was fewer than 300 individuals in the late 1980s. Since then, two international action plans (1995 and 2010–2020) have been implemented, and the global population has increased to more than 6000 individuals in 2021–2022; the species was downlisted from “Critically Endangered (CR)” to “Endangered (EN)” in 2000. To examine the basis for this success, we reviewed the implementation of the action plans in light of the IUCN Species Conservation Cycle (Assess–Plan–Act–Network–Communicate) framework, using publicly available information documenting the planned activity or policy outcome. Additionally, we used the IUCN Green Status of Species framework to assess the impact of this conservation effort on the black-faced spoonbill’s recovery to date and recovery potential. We found that the action plans for the black-faced spoonbill contain activities across all SCC framework components, though the number of activities implemented differed among countries. Our preliminary Green Status assessment indicates that the black-faced spoonbill is currently Largely Depleted, with a Species Recovery Score of 35%; however, without past conservation actions, we estimate that its score would be only 15% today (Critically Depleted), and that it is biologically possible for the species to fully recover (100%) in the next 100 years, if ambitious actions are taken. This provides further evidence that premeditated, evidence-based conservation interventions can reverse biodiversity loss.