By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
CHANGWON ㅡ Experts on costal wetlands warned wetlands on the west coast of Korea ― a major habitat for biodiversity and migratory birds in the entire East Asian-Australasian flyway ― are in jeopardy from reckless economic development.
In a symposium on East Asian costal wetlands Wednesday at the Changwon Exhibition Convention Center, the main venue for the Ramsar Convention, Zhang Xuelei from the First Institute of Oceanography in China said, ``Coastal wetlands in the west coast of Korea have largely disappeared in recent decades as a result of heavy pressure from exploration activities and environment changes.''
Noting that rapid economic development has been encouraging people to change their lives and increase their pressures on the marine ecosystem including the sea grass bed, Zhang said, ``A direct threat is the increased intensity of local fishery activities, which can damage the sea grass bed, and depletes the hosted resources and biodiversity.''
According to Prof. Park Gyung-soo of the department of marine biotechnology of Anyang University, a total of 10 habitats out of 12 Ramsar costal wetland habitat types were found on the Korean west coast.
``Major habitats are mud tidal flats, bays, estuaries and beaches there. Bays, estuaries and tidal flats were revealed as the most important habitats for biodiversity in the west coast wetlands,'' Park said, citing the results of his recent research. ``The wetlands in the West Sea are the single most important site for migratory birds in the entire East Asian-Australasian flyway, with two million birds.''
High tidal amplitude and the physical isolation of habitats are largely attributed to the diversity of species, Park added.
Prof. Hahm Han-hee at Chungbuk National University blamed the ongoing Saemangeum Reclamation Project (SRP) for significantly disrupting eco-structure of the region, resulting in a sharp decrease in marine resources.
SRP is a massive tideland reclamation project on the southwest coastal area that started in 1991. The project, scheduled to be completed in 2011, will produce 40,100 hectares of land and 28,300 hectares of farmland, according to the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
``It's an outdated development policy and Korea no longer depends on an agricultural economy,'' Hahm said.
Following the conference, heads of participating organizations issued a joint statement calling on the government to develop wetlands in the West Sea in an eco-friendly fashion.
Dr. Koh Byoung-seol, a researcher from the Tidal-flat Research Center, said, ``This meeting was jointly hosted by central and provincial governments, environment NGOs and concerned research institutes. So we expect the contents in the statement to be widely reflected in the government's policy on wetland development.''
pss@koreatimes.co.kr
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