Welcome to the official homepage of SAVE International!

Our mission:
To protect the critically endangered Black-faced Spoonbill (Platalea minor) and its habitat throughout its flyway by promoting alternative economic development and long-term sustainability of the ecosystems and local communities.

As of January 1, 2025, SAVE International is no longer taking monetary donations. Please consider donating to one of the other organizations in our “Links” list, to the left.

 

Latest Highlights:

  • Our allies are leading the campaign for the government of Taiwan to protect Jiading Wetland as a “Wetland of National Importance”. Learn more and sign a petition to their latest call to protect Jiading Wetland at our Jiading campaign page.
  • We bid a grateful farewell to the late Dr. Jane Goodall in this blog post. She inspired many young scientists all over the world, including members of SAVE’s Executive Committee and academic partners over the years.
  • The 2025 world population of Black-Faced Spoonbills is at a new high of 7,081, according to preliminary totals from the annual International Black-Faced Spoonbill Census coordinated by Yat-tung Yu, Director of the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society. This number is up from the 6,988 counted in 2024 and continues a positive trend for more than 30 years. We join our allies throughout the flyway in celebrating the news; international cooperation in science and planning has been succeeding. Still, we remind ourselves that many habitat sites are facing threats, and we must remain vigilant to keep the recovery going.
  • Our work on Hwaseong Wetlands, Korea, has advanced with the release of the final report, “A Vision for Hwaseong Wetlands: World Heritage Site Proposal and Tourism Management Strategies (October 29, 2022)”, which is available for download by clicking on the title.  We released a draft report in late August 2022. For more info on this internationally important site, check out our Hwaseong campaign page.
  • Our Winter 2022 newsletter is out! Check out the latest issue of Spoonbills Speak. You can also download past issues from our Spoonbills Speak page.
  • The Spring 2021 issue of Earth Island Journal featured an article by SAVE Executive Committee members Fiona Cundy, Randy Hester, and Marcia McNally: “Spike in Birdwatching is a Conservation Boon”.
  • Another guest author has provided an update for the SAVE Blog: Mayu from Team SPOON in Japan, who is visiting Taiwan for several months and helped count the local Black-faced Spoonbills and other birds in two censuses in January 2021.
  • We had a guest author for the SAVE Blog: a US Army helicopter pilot who has been stationed in South Korea since 2015 and is also an avid bird-watcher. In 2019, he wrote about the Hwaseong Wetlands, which provide a stopover home to tens of thousands of migratory birds each year, including the Black-faced Spoonbill and other endangered species.
  • Our colleagues in Taiwan have produced a compelling 9-minute video about Taiwan’s “conflict of greens”, unfolding in the wetlands of the southwestern coast, where the government is building industrial-scale solar farms on former saltpans and fishponds, despite scientific evidence that these places support internationally important populations of Black-faced Spoonbills and other species, and support traditional fishing jobs.

 

Please click on the following links or the menu above to navigate our site:

  • About:  Read about SAVE’s mission, actions, and history, and who we are.
  • Research:  Learn more about the Black-faced Spoonbill, and access SAVE’s research and resources on the endangered bird.
  • SAVE in Action:  Read about SAVE’s past and current campaigns.
  • Media:  Access our media room to download SAVE’s newsletters, official press-kit, presentations and files, and related press coverage.
  • Get Involved:  Learn how you can get involved with our campaigns, support our work, or contact us.
  • Blog:  Read news posts by SAVE members or our allies along the flyway.

Click here to join SAVE on Facebook!

SAVE International was a former project of Earth Island Institute, but as of 2025, it is no longer affiliated with Earth Island Institute. Please direct any inquiries about this website to save.spoonbill@gmail.com. This website was last updated in 2025.