21 Jan 2013

A personal message from Rodney Russ

For the past two years Heritage Expeditions have teamed with Birdlife International to assist in the conservation of critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper. The data collected on these expeditions has been invaluable for the International Spoon-billed Sandpiper Recovery Team.

However the results from our surveys paint a far gloomier picture than we had hoped, their situation is critical.

There is an urgency to try and locate more breeding pairs. The birds once bred in reasonable numbers in various locations in Chukotka. Because of remoteness of this region and the cost nobody has been able to check these sites for over a decade.

We have decided because of the urgency and importance of this, to make the ship available to the Recovery Team to check known breeding and possible new breeding sites in Chukotka this coming season (July 11 - 24 2013). We have developed a unique 14 day itinerary that not only includes searching for the Spoon-billed Sandpiper but goes to the very heart of this unique land and community in a way that has never been possible before. If ice conditions are suitable we plan to search the ice edge for Polar Bears and walrus which are symbolic of this region. We have also included the Beringia Festival and Regatta at Lavrentiya. This annual event is arguably one of the most colourful and important festivals in the Chukotka calendar.


Joining us on this expedition will be

Christoph Zockler - Spoon-billed Sandpiper Recovery Team

Elena Lappo - Spoon-billed Sandpiper Recovery Team

Evgeny Syroechkovskiy - Spoon-billed Sandpiper Recovery Team

Debbie Payne - UK Wetland and Wildfowl Trust (TBC)

and I will be expedition leader.

We do hope that you can join us on this very special expedition

Rodney Russ