Wading birds including lapwings, curlews, and redshanks have suffered severe population declines linked to wetland drainage and agricultural intensification, with profound welfare and ecological consequences.
Declining wader populations experience both individual welfare losses and population-level collapse. At the individual level, habitat degradation means birds expend more energy on foraging with reduced success, chicks face higher predation risks in degraded habitats, and thermal stress increases on drained land with less shade and moisture. Population decline itself is a welfare concern insofar as social species have reduced opportunities for conspecific interaction. Wetland restoration through agri-environment payments, rewilding, and targeted conservation management on key sites represents the most impactful intervention for wader welfare at population scale.