Man in love with Upo Wetland

Lee In-sik

By Kim Se-jeong

Lee In-sik, 63, a retired school teacher, moved to the Upo Wetland in Changnyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, five years ago.

Lee bought an empty storage space there, spending all of his severance pay. He used that space to teach visitors about the importance of wetlands, and he opened a library inside the space on Aug. 29. On the same day, his book on Upo was published.

The book, “The Secret Garden, Upo,” is an essay and a collection of his 5-year-long work at Upo, the nation’s largest inland wetland and one of eight on Ramsar’s wetland list in Korea.

He goes out to the 2.13-square-kilometer wetland twice a day, acting like one of its guardians.

Lee’s dedication to Upo has continued for the last 24 years.

He was behind the effort to put Upo on the list of Ramsar wetlands. He urged Changwon, a city near Upo, to host the Ramsar International Convention and made it happen in 2008. He also writes for local newspapers and accepts invitations to speak about the wetlands.

Asked about his motivation, he cited a toxic chemical spill in the Nakdong River in 1991.

“After the spill, I set out to walk along the river. As wetlands can filter pollutants, I thought that if the wetlands there were well-preserved, the spill would not have threatened the drinking water source as badly as it did. So I began to work for wetlands preservation.”

He began grassroots advocacy work for Upo. He gathered people to clean the wetlands and spoke about it whenever he had a chance. He was a full-time teacher back then, but kept the advocacy work going.

In 2010, he decided to devote most of his time to the wetlands conservation. He filed for early retirement and moved to Upo.

“I wanted to show local people that I really cared about Upo. Residents there usually criticize environmental activists for asking only local people to sacrifice while they enjoy clean and convenient urban lives. I wanted to show that I am willing to make sacrifices.”

He thanked his wife for her support as she had to endure the economic burden for the family. In June, the Ministry of Environment awarded him with its highest honor in environmental work, recognizing his passion and work for the wetland.

Lee said his work for Upo is far from winding down.

“My plan is to try to expand the preservation area of Upo,” Lee said. “Nature is critical to human life, and it deserves our attention.”