Suncheon Bay symposium

01-06-2000

Suncheon Bay, the only regular wintering site for Hooded Cranes Grus monacha in Korea and also an important site for Relict Gulls Larus relictus and the globally threatened Saunders's Gulls Larus saundersi is currently unprotected. Many Korean national and international NGOs have been lobbying the Suncheon City Government to designate the site as a protected area. However, there is much opposition from local people, worried that the establishment of a protected area will restrict their daily lives and cause the shelving of a river 'improvement' plan, meaning that their land would be liable to flooding.

Against this background, the Wild Bird Society of Japan (WBSJ, BirdLife in Japan), as co-ordinators of Wetland International's North East Asian Crane Site Network, organised an international symposium to discuss the future of Suncheon Bay. Financial and technical support came from the Japan Fund for Global Environment, the Ministry of Environment of Korea, the City Government of Suncheon, the National Institute of Environmental Research of Korea, Amur Socio-ecological Union of Russia and the Environment Agency of Japan. Around 200 people attended the symposium and afterwards a frank but friendly discussion forum was held. The views of both sides are now much better understood. Although there is still a long way to go, this was an important first step and there is now reason to be optimistic about the future conservation of Suncheon Bay.