Wherever you look, wherever you go, you will discover that virtually every habitat in which waders dwell – be it to breed, pass the non-breeding season or stopover on migration- is under threat from destruction or degradation causing population declines across the board.
The causes of this devastation are manifold and the solutions are few and difficult to implement. There are a number of large, well-known conservation organisations that do wonderful work, but it is the people and organisations that they cannot reach, that you wouldn’t have heard about, that Wader Quest sets out to champion.
Founders Rick and Elis Simpson were struck by local community led work that goes on where the large organisations were unable to lend their influence. These projects may involve just one nest or a single beach, but that does not mean they are not worth supporting.
It is these situations where concerned citizens may notice what is going on and determine to do something about it. They will perhaps fence off areas of beach, erect signs, raise local public awareness or approach local authorities and all of this usually with no financial backing whatsoever. It is exactly these sorts of projects that Wader quest was designed to help.
We have two main remits:
1) to raise awareness; which we do through events that we organise and attend, and talks that we give to groups, clubs and societies up and down the UK.
2) to raise funds; which we do through donations and subscriptions to Friends of Wader Quest and Corporate Sponsors; one of which is Wildfoot. 100% of these funds are used exclusively for wader conservation.
Since 2012 when we initially raised money for the Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Wader Quest has raised over £20,000 for wader conservation and helped a variety of projects on six continents.
We are currently running an Anniversary Grant proposal where we ask people who are aware of small projects to nominate them for consideration for a one off grant of £1,000. This is coupled with an offer from Opticron Optics of up to £500 worth of equipment to accompany the grant. Nominations can be made by anyone, even those involved in the projects themselves, so if you know of a deserving cause, anywhere in the world, then email Wader Quest on waderquest@gmail.com to set the ball rolling. All nominations will be required by the end of March 2018, so get nominating.
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