By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
CHANGWON ― The number of ``endangered'' crane species wintering on the Korean Peninsula is decreasing as wetlands disappear due to reclamation and other development projects, an international bird conservation group said, Friday.
Of many crane species, three ― the white-napped crane, hooded crane and red-crowned crane ― spend their winter season here but increasing wetlands loss as a result of a series of large-scale reclamation projects for development pose a threat to their survival, BirdLife International said in a side event at the Ramsar Convention in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province.
In particular, the red-crowned crane is categorized as an ``endangered'' species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (UNEP), host of the Ramsar Convention, while the two other species are ``vulnerable.''
The NGO estimates roughly 6,500 white-napped cranes, 2,500 hooded cranes and 1,650 red-crowned cranes survive around the world.
``Their population is still decreasing,'' said Simba Chan, senior conservation officer of the BirdLife Asia Division. ``They usually take harvested farmlands or nearby wetlands as their wintering ground for their rich food resources. But they are consequently at risk from hunting, direct disturbance, pollution from pesticide use and further loss of habitat due to agricultural expansion.''
He added that changing farming techniques caused by climate change is attributable to the decrease.
``In the southern part of Korea including Chaewon, a switch from spring to autumn plowing of rice paddies resulted in reduced foraging rates, potentially affecting their over-winter survival,'' Chan said.
To prevent a further decrease, he called on the Korean government to establish a trans-boundary protected area in cooperation with the Russian, Chinese and North Korean government, whose three states lie on their migratory path.
``It's also necessary to designate Cholwon in Gangwon Province and the Han River estuary in the Demilitarized Zone as conservation areas to provide them more suitable wintering sites,'' he said.