Beauty of Upo Wetland
By Shim Hyun-chul
Staff Reporter
The Upo Wetland is one of the largest natural wetlands in Korea and also a place where people can find a variety of animals and plant life flourishing together. It is spread across approximately 2.31 kilometers of Ibang-myeon and Daehab-myeon of Changnyeong-gun, South Gyeongsang Province, created as the Soha stream starts to narrow down before it meets the Nakdong River. Perhaps because the wetland was created so long ago ― 140 million years ― it still holds the mysterious and natural beauty of primitive times.
The wetland consists of four swamps: the Upo, the Mokpo, the Sajipo and the Jjokjibeol. The Upo, the largest of the four, was also known as the ``So-beol'' (or Cow-beol), due to its shape that looked as if a cow was drinking from it. The Mokpo and Sajipo were also called the ``Namu (tree)-beol'' and ``Morae (sand)-beol,'' all due to the abundance of pine trees and sand. Jjokjibeol was named because it was relatively smaller than the others (``jjokji'' means a small memo in Korean).
During the winter, there are a vast number and variety of migratory birds around the Upo Wetland. There is also a special walk path, perfect for people to search for and study the birds. For those who want to learn more about the location, there is the Upo Wetland Ecological Park. At the park, visitors can get a glimpse of the four distinctive seasons of the place, the flora and fauna and also other information.
The Upo Wetland was designated as the ecological conservation area in 1997 and ``protected wetland'' in accordance with the International Ramsar Treaty in 1998. The 10th Conference of Ramsar Convention on Wetlands will be held in Changnyeong, Oct. 28-Nov. 4, to inspect the wetlands and discuss ways to conserve and sustain the environment.
For detailed information about the Upo Wetland, visit www.upo.or.kr or call (055) 530-2691.