Within the UAE, the main threats to this species may be from changes in coastal land-use, and potentially oil pollution; but the severity of such threats are uncertain.Given knowledge of the species's global status, a range of other threats outside of the UAE could be impacting individuals that visit the country. Loss of nesting habitat owing to wetland drainage and agricultural intensification, and conversely abandonment in some parts of the range, are the most significant threats (Mischenko 2008,;Kentie et al. 2013). Detrimental activities include the conversion of wet meadows to arable land and loss of habitat to development (Tucker and Heath 1994), increased fertilisation and drainage of grassland;(Roodbergen and Teunissen 2014), earlier and more frequent cutting as farmers adapt to climate change (Kleijn;et al.;2010), spring burning and scrub encroachment (A. Mischenko;in litt.;2007);and possibly disturbance by walkers (Holm and Laursen 2009).;On intensively grazed pastures, trampling is a major cause of nest loss, and a switch to monoculture on arable land reduces the supply of insects on which the species feeds (Kentie;et al. 2013).;In some areas, grassland turnover from 'natural, flower-rich, diverse and wet' to silage monoculture leads to a loss of nests with eggs and chicks due to mowing and to starvation of chicks due to a lack of food (Schekkerman and Beintema 2007).;A study in the central regions of European Russia suggests that a significant decline in spring flood levels during the last two decades, as a result climate change, has strengthened the negative impact of agricultural abandonment (A. Mischenko in litt. 2016).;Habitat fragmentation may cause problems for this species, which nests in dispersed colonies and sub-colonies as protection against predators, hence productivity may be low in such areas. Indeed, sink locations have been documented for the species, where birds recruited from good quality habitat disperse to low quality habitats (often suffering high predation), effectively losing these individuals to the population. This has repercussions for the effectiveness of agri-environment measures (Kentie;et al. 2015, Leigh;et al. 2017). There is a marked decrease in the density of breeding birds near to roads, particularly those with heavy traffic (van der Zande;et al.;1980, Reijnen;et al. 1996). Natal philopatry means that a decrease in local recruitment could prove catastrophic for individual breeding sites (Kruk;et al.;1998).Threats on migration include pollution, human disturbance, habitat reclamation for tidal energy plants, aquaculture ponds, land conversion for agriculture, urban expansion and agricultural intensification at rice paddies.;Hunting has been another significant threat, although France has now followed the rest of the European Union (EU) in implementing a five-year ban on hunting of the species, beginning in 2008 (I. Burfield in litt. 2008), which was extended in 2013 for a further five years. Outside the EU, hunting is known to occur, but its scale and impact is unknown. Water pollution is probably an issue in parts of the species's range (H. Hötker in litt. 2005), although the effects of the release of some pollutants, like untreated sewage, on the species may be minor as long as there are several alternative prey present at a site (Alves et al. 2012).