REVIEW Citizens, science and bird conservation

has had a major role in ornithology and conservation science and will continue to do so. It has been important in establishing the facts of migration, systematically recording distribution, providing insights into habitat requirements and recording variation in numbers, produc-tivity and survival, thus allowing detailed demographic analyses. The availability of these data has allowed con-servation work to be focussed on priority species, habitats and sites and enabled refined monitoring and research programmes aimed at providing the understanding neces-sary for sound conservation management and for evidence-based government policy. The success of such work depends on the independence of the science from those advocating particular policies in order to ensure that the science is unbiased. Wetland birds are surveyed in much o