Events

The 11th Meeting of Partners of the East Asian Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP) and the situation of birds on the Korean Peninsula

The 11th Meeting of Partners of the East Asian Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP) took place in Brisbane, Australia, from March 12-17. The Korean Peninsula is centered in the middle of the flyway, where annually around 50 million birds migrate, and is adjacent to the Yellow Sea, the most important hotspot of the flyway. The EAAFP was founded in 2007 to better protect birds along the whole flyway, which reaches from Australia and New Zealand to Russia and Alaska. The partnership consists of 18 government members, among them South and North Korea, but also China, Japan, Russia and the USA, as well as NGO members, among them since 2017 Hanns-Seidel-Foundation Korea. The South Korean government is represented as well by representatives of the Ministry of Ocean and Fisheries and its agencies – this time by a very good delegation from the Korea Marine Management Corporation – as by the Ministry of Environment, which also was present. Additionally, researchers and NGO representatives from Korea were at the MOP, among them Donguk Han from Eco Korea and Kisup Lee of the International Crane Foundation. Hanns-Seidel-Foundation Korea was represented by Bernhard Seliger and Hyun-Ah Choi, both also lifetime members of Birds Korea. Unfortunately, due to the Covid pandemic, this time North Korea was not represented at the MOP.

The meeting discussed issues pertinent to the whole flyway, like the impact of Avian influenza, illegal hunting, or the role and form of CEPA (Communication, Education, Public Awareness) activities, ways to improve the monitoring of waterbirds in the flyway etc. There were updates on many species. While we still see a decline of waterbirds in the flyway, the rapid decline of the past two decades could be stopped, and for some species it can be hoped that their populations bottomed-out, and for others – like the Black-faced Spoonbill, the White-naped Crane and the Red-crowned Crane, there seem to be clearly positive population trends. This shows that the activities of governments and NGO along the coastal flyways to protect birds better had some positive impact, though much remains to be done. Of particular interest for Korea was the pre-meeting of the Yellow Sea Task Force, headed by Bruce McKinlay from New Zealand. The continuation of the work and the improvement of communication among members in the task force were agreed upon. In a side event, Hanns-Seidel-Foundation Korea on the sidelines of the MOP brought together resource persons and representatives of the Yellow Sea Working Group to discuss the future of bird protection in the Yellow Sea. The Yellow Sea working group, which brought together the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Ramsar Regional Center (RRC), and the EAAFP secretariat with partners like Hanns-Seidel-Foundation and representatives of the three governments of PR China, South Korea and North Korea, emerged in 2017 and held before the pandemic several meetings to coordinate efforts to protect tidal wetlands in the Yellow Sea. Now, it is important to regain dynamics in this partnership. Raphael Glémet of IUCN Asia-Pacific office explained the emergence and task of the working group. Bruce McKinlay, head of the Yellow Sea task force under the EAAFP, which brings together specialists, NGO, and technical experts, explained how the task force can reinforce the work of the working group. Both presentations were brought together by the ideas of Nicola Crockford of the Royal Society for the protection of birds: Yellow Sea Working group, mainly geared at bringing together the governments of bordering states of the Yellow Sea, together with the Yellow Sea task force, providing technical and expert advice, can together represent protection initiatives, also vis-à-vis the new, important World Coastal Forum, as focal points for Yellow Sea environmental governance. Seung Oh Suh, head of the Ramsar Regional Center East Asia, one of the steering organizations of the working group, proposed ways how to improve capacity-building for government officials in the Yellow Sea area. Bernhard Seliger of Hanns-Seidel-Foundation, who moderated the session, recalled the history of DPRK involvement and the difficulties to keep up connections in the time of pandemic and North Korea´s self-isolation. Members of governments and the NGO community looked into the work of the governments of China (Lu Cai of Beijing Forestry University and the EAAFP science unit) and South Korea (Gusung Lee of KOEM) and on the ground (Donguk Han with a lovely presentation of the unification map of Swan Geese in Korea).

Other important working groups included the Shorebird working group meetings and the pre-meeting of the seabird working group. Hanns-Seidel-Foundation agreed to hold a training with the Seabird working group in Korea later this year or next year. For the birds on the EAAF and in particular in the Yellow Sea area, there remain many challenges. EAAFP is one way to foster a community of like-minded people in government, academia and the civil society to work for the better protection of birds in the flyway. For this, outgoing EAAFP CEO Doug Watkins, as well as senior officers Vivian Fu and Hyeseon Do, worked tirelessly, together with the Australasian Wader Studies Group and many others to make the EAAFP MOP a valuable and fruitful event. It also was for most attendees the first time after three years of pandemic to meet again and discuss further cooperation. Grave challenges lie before the EAAFP. Not the least is the question if the generous support of the central government and in particular city government of Incheon will continue into the future. The EAAFP secretariat in Songdo has become an important and widely recognized actor in environmental issues in Korea and far beyond. Hopefully, this will continue into the future…

The 11th Meeting of Partners of the East Asian Australasian Flyway took place March 12-17 in Brisbane, Australia.
Participants of the 11th Meeting of Partners of the EAAFP
The Yellow Sea Working Group side event was brought together by Hanns-Seidel-Foundation Korea.
Information table of Hanns-Seidel-Foundation Korea with Hyun-Ah Choi and Bernhard Seliger, both also lifetime members of Birds Korea
Work in the plenary was tedious, but ultimately successful
The biodiversity of the Brisbane area is incredible – here are some birds of the mangrove forests of Wynnum wetland. In this picture: Great egret Ardea alba, Royal Spoonbill Platalea regia, White-faced heron Egretta novahollandiae and Australasian ibises Threskiornis molucca…(© Bernhard Seliger)
An Australasian Swamphen Porphyrio melanotus (© Bernhard Seliger)
A Caspian tern Hydroprogne caspia. While many birds of Australia are endemic, others like this one are shared birds of the flyway, which depend on a protection of roosting and feed sides along the flyway. (© Bernhard Seliger)

More from Events

Conservation Tourism in Yeoncheon Imjin River Biosphere Reserve, November 26 – 27

Over the weekend of November 26th to 27th, a Birds Korea event was held in the Yeoncheon Imjin River Biosphere Reserve in Gyeonggi-do, with generous support by Yeoncheon County. In attendance was representation from eBird, the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership, … read more

November 2022

November 2022: remarkable internationally for the Ramsar Convention and “Climate Conference“ (and the soccer world cup…) and within the ROK for a series of events with input from Birds Koreans and / or those whose work has been featured on … read more

결코 대체할 수 없는 우수한 생태계, 화성습지

경기도의회 정책토론회 정한철 화성환경운동연합 사무국장 “생물다양성 보전을 위해 한국의 습지 보전은 필수입니다. 새와 서식지를 보호하는 것은 SDGs(지속가능발전목표) 달성에 긴요합니다. 특히 화성습지는 결코 대체할 수 없는 우수한 생태계입니다. 과학적으로 합의된 국제 기준인 람사르협약 등재기준을 넉넉히 충족하는 국제적으로 중요한 습지이며, 한국과 동아시아에서 … read more

화성습지, 희망을 그리다

2019년 5월 13일 개최하는 화성습지 국제 심포지엄. 지난 해 말, 화성습지는 동아시아-대양주 철새 이동경로 네트워크 사이트로 지정된 바 있으며 이는 2018년 9월에 화성시민, 서울과 화성 환경운동연합, 새와생명의터, 국내외 전문가들, 화성시가 함께 개최한 ‘위대한 비행’이란  국제심포지엄의 성과였다. 이번 행사는 화성습지보전을 통해 … read more

2017 울산 아시아 버드페어에서의 새와 생명의 터

2017.11.17 (금)~21.(화)까지 울산에서 열리는 아시아 버드페어에 새와 생명의 터는 참가하였습니다. 오래전부터 인연을 맺어온 한스 자이델 재단과 함께 부스를 운영했는데,  최근까지 몇차례 시행한 남북 조류 공동조사를 홍보하는 자리도 되었습니다.   새와 생명의 터 부스에서는 PPT와 보고서를 통해 여지껏 해온 활동을 알리면서    ‘보이지 않는 연결고리’ 와 ‘머그컵 … read more

제8회 아시아조류박람회

  제 8회 아시아조류박람회(ABF: Asia Bird Fair) 2017년 11월 17일~20일까지 울산광역시 태화강철새공원 일원에서 개최. ABF는 지난해 중국 무한현 징산시에 이어 올해 대한민국 울산에서  개최되며 아시아 지역 및 세계의 조류단체와 생태관광 관련 단체, 기관, 회사 생태관광, 탐조여행, 조류보호등 22개국, 80여개 부스가 펼쳐질 … read more

2015 한반도 두루미 보전을 위한 국제포럼

다음주 금요일인 12월 18일에 서울대학교 문화관 중강당에서 한반도 두루미 보전을 위한 국제포럼이 열립니다. 이번 행사는 서울대학교와 국립생태원에서 주최하여 큰 규모로 열리는 국제포럼이 될 것으로 예상됩니다. 비록 하루에 걸친 포럼이지만 개막식을 비롯하여 다양한 강연과 여러 분야의 사람들이 참석할 예정인 토론 행사에 … read more