Leica Camera AG continues to back the ambitious project of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) for the protection and preservation of the endangered spoon-billed sandpiper. This collaboration to save the unique wader from extinction began in 2013 and has now been renewed to guarantee the project’s long-term success. Leica Camera AG supports the breeding programmes and field expeditions of the WWT team and, in its function as exclusive optics partner of the organisation, equips its members with first-class optical equipment such as binoculars, spotting scopes and cameras for work in the field.

For several years now, the spoon-billed sandpiper has been the focal point of an intensive international rescue programme being carried out by the WWT and its partners in the bird’s north Siberian breeding grounds. Some of the fledglings are reared by hand and then released into the wild. The global population of the spoon-billed sandpiper has fallen to the critical level of only around 100 breeding pairs. Above all, environmental pollution, the extraction of fossil fuels and hunting pose particular threats to the survival of this bird with the characteristic spoon-shaped bill. Not least because of this situation, Leica Camera also helps raise awareness amongst the local population in the wintering colonies of the threat to this rare and charismatic bird.

Stephan Albrecht, head of the sport optics division at Leica Camera AG, says: ‘One of Leica’s primary focuses is on long-term and sustainable support for selected nature conservancy projects. For us, the decision to continue our collaboration with the WWT in their efforts to save the spoon-billed sandpiper from extinction was therefore a logical step. For conservationists, our binoculars, spotting scopes and cameras are the perfect tools for monitoring the sensitive breeding areas from an appropriate distance without disturbing this remarkable wading bird.’

Further information on the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust and the project to save the spoon-billed sandpiper can be found at www.wwt.org.uk/sbs and www.saving-spoon-billed-sandpiper.com.