Dr Nial Moores, National Director, Birds Korea
Between 19th and 29th July, Busan will host the 48th Session of the World Heritage Committee. At this session the Committee will announce their decisions on new World Heritage nominations, including on Phase 2 of the World Heritage Getbol (Tidal Flat) here in the Republic of Korea (ROK), and – for the first time – Coastal Wetlands in the West Sea of Korea of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. We applaud warmly the conservation of more tidal-flats and coastal wetlands as World Heritage property on the Korean Peninsula. However, we are puzzled by the rationale for the ROK to name only three new tidal flat areas in the proposed Getbol extension, especially when two of them lack obvious Outstanding Universal Value. This too while excluding several known tidal flat sites which were mentioned in formal materials during Phase 1, all of which are obviously much more important globally for Yellow Sea biodiversity and for the integrity of the World Heritage Getbol property as a whole than the three Phase 2 sites.
Excluded tidal and intertidal areas of obvious Outstanding Universal Value include many of the tidal-flats in Incheon; the Han-Imjin Estuary; some sites in Gyeonggi province, including the Hwaseong Wetlands; the Gusipo tidal flats, shallow seas and offshore islands in Jeollabuk used by breeding Chinese Crested Tern; and the Nakdong Estuary here in Busan.
Moreover, we remain puzzled by the continuing insistence by some decision-makers to construct a new international airport at Saemangeum, which a court already ruled last year would be expected to cause negative impacts on waterbirds that are dependent on the existing World Heritage tidal flats in the adjacent Geum Estuary. Presumably this airport is seen by some as key to making, “Saemangeum… a major development hub for the west coast“, without explicit recognition of how such a development might impact the adjacent World Heritage site or fit in with the goals and targets set out in the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. The proposed new airport at Saemangeum is, of course, one of only ten or so airports that are currently being proposed. Others include a domestic airport on bird migration hotspot Baengnyeong Island in Incheon; a new international airport within the Hwaseong Wetlands; and of course Gadeokdo international airport in Busan, immediately adjacent to the Nakdong Estuary.
Our research has already provided clear evidence that the proposed new airports on Baengnyeong, at Saemangeum, within the Hwaseong Wetlands and at Gadeokdo in Busan will suffer a very high bird strike risk. In the case of the proposed Gadeokdo airport, this is because the location sits astride a migration flyway used by many thousands of migrating raptors and landbirds. We have also argued that the new airport on Gadeokdo would result in the loss of protected forest and the proposed infrastructure related to it, in particular a new highway across the estuary, would negatively impact waterbirds which are ecologically dependent on the Nakdong Estuary. It should be noted clearly here that the Nakdong Estuary is a nationally protected wetland and a national Natural Heritage Site; and that many of the species which will be impacted have been designated as Natural Monuments. Many of the to-be-impacted species also have a very poor national and / or global conservation status, including Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper 넓적부리도요 and Endangered Narrow-ridged Finless Porpoise 상괭이.
Contrary to some of the arguments that have been made in support of this (and other proposed airports), the proper conservation of the Nakdong Estuary and of other bio-diverse and heritage important sites is not about choosing birds over people. It is instead about genuine sustainability, as defined by the SDGs, which includes conserving biodiversity, working to prevent runaway climate breakdown, enhancing peoples’ well-being and generating jobs now and into the future.
Some of these future jobs could be in green tourism. Even now, Busan City is rightly emerging as a major tourist destination. Indeed, more foreign tourists visited the city in 2025 than people who live here. And this tourism is already generating a substantial income for the city and supporting new jobs.
Many of the tourists to Busan that I have talked with over the years have told me that they enjoy the somewhat chaotic architecture of Busan, with industrial cranes and dense apartment complexes set hard against forested hills which line a beautiful coastline and overlook the Nakdong River with its glimmering estuary. Some tourists seemed fully satisfied by their visit – but as elsewhere, an increasing number of tourists also ask where can they go in Busan to find less disturbed “nature”. As noted by World Bank blogs, “Tourism’s economic benefits are connected to environmental quality. Visitors often avoid polluted beaches, toxic air, and lifeless coral. Healthy ecosystems and biodiversity, on the other hand, can attract tourists and are also key to sustainable livelihoods on a livable planet.”
Economic data have long supported this simple assertion: “The world’s national parks and nature reserves receive around eight billion visits every year” and “could generate as much as US$600 billion of tourism expenditure annually…vastly exceed(ing) the less than US$10 billion spent safeguarding these sites each year” (Balmford et al. 2015).
In this understanding, Birds Korea continues to do what we can to document and promote the importance of birds and their habitats in Busan, both nationally and internationally. In addition to our research at Gadeokdo and our sharing of images for postal stamps to celebrate the designation of a new National Park in the city, we have been conducting research at three of the Eco-parks that line the lower Nakdong River. Under our MOU with the Nakdong River Projects Management Office and with the support of Microsoft and the Society of Ecological Restoration, this research is now being used to inform a restoration project that we are leading at Maekdo; and again supported by Microsoft (and their strategy for Environmental Sustainability), it will be used to help raise awareness of the vital importance of the adjacent Samnak Eco-park to biodiversity.
Much more needs to be done, of course. And longer-term, the people of Busan will need to build consensus on a future vision of genuine harmony with the natural environment. That harmony will of course require conserving the best of what remains; restoring areas that are degraded; making fundamental changes to management systems; and creating well-paid jobs for properly-trained local people as nature tourism guides and site wardens.
Our hope now is that Busan will use the opportunity provided by the 48th World Heritage Committee meeting to start to re-imagine itself – not only as a dynamic city for people, but also as the possible future Korean capital city of biodiversity and heritage. If you share that hope, please contact us and / or consider becoming a member.
Further Reading:
Balmford, A., Green, JMH., Anderson, M., Beresford, J., Huang, C., Naidoo, R., Walpole, M., and Manica, A. (2015) Walk on the Wild Side: Estimating the Global Magnitude of Visits to Protected Areas. PLoS Biol 13(2): e1002074. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002074
And for stunning video of the migration of Chinese Sparrowhawks through Gadeokdo in Busan, please see:
