By Kim Jin-heon
The 13th Mudflat Festival was held last Oct. 9 and 10 in Jangcheok, a coastal village in the Yeosu peninsula, which is half an hour away by car from south of the Suncheon Bay wetlands. The main event featured hands-on experiences such as looking for seashells, catching fish, and a singing contest.
Many citizens participated in the event, attracting a lot of food vendors that sold various dishes. Similar events have been held in southern and western coastal areas on the Korean peninsula every autumn since the late 2000s.
In fact, before the first festival started, the wetlands were considered useless. During the Japanese occupation, they were reclaimed as paddy fields, and in the 1970s to the early 2000s, as industrial sites.
In the 1980s, Mr. Go, a professor at Seoul National University studying in Germany, highlighted the value of these tidal lands which are full of many resources and should be preserved. He mentioned that the mudflats in the southern and western coastal areas are one of the world's top five.
Since then, many scholars have begun to report their value. Diverse species such as birds, fish, and mollusks live there, maintaining a rich marine ecosystem. The area purifies dirty water flowing from inland, reducing the damage caused by strong waves. In addition, it provides a place for tourism, as well as a bountiful seafood source for people.
Thanks to the scholars' promotional efforts of the wetlands, local governments have begun to advertise their importance since the late 2000s by holding festivals and through preservation and clean-up efforts of the coastal villages.
Nowadays, ominous signs of climate change, such as changes in rainfall, abnormal temperatures, and a reduction in the population of honeybees have shown the effects of excessive discharges of waste, carbon dioxide emission, or environmental destruction.
The mudflats do an excellent job of absorbing carbon dioxide. Scientists reported that they absorb CO2 every year equivalent to emissions given off by 110,000 cars. So their benefit in curbing global warming is really immense.
These multiple benefits of the wetlands have played important roles, such as preventing global warming, providing food, and modulating the ecosystem.
Sadly, more than half of the tidal lands in the Southern and Western coasts have been reclaimed as paddy fields or used for other purposes. However, the Seocheon, Gochang, Shinan, Boseong, and Suncheon mudflats in the southern and western areas were designated as UNESCO Natural World Heritage sites on July 26, 2021. Their importance as symbols of our past that should be handed down to our descendants without being damaged is crucial. The science magazine "Nature" said that the ecological value of mudflats is one hundred times more than farmland and 10 times more than forests.
While our ecosystem is being attacked by global warming, the mudflats may be the last bastions of nature to protect us.
Kim Jin-heon is a retired English teacher who published a book titled, "Flower Is Flower."
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Many citizens participated in the event, attracting a lot of food vendors that sold various dishes. Similar events have been held in southern and western coastal areas on the Korean peninsula every autumn since the late 2000s.
In fact, before the first festival started, the wetlands were considered useless. During the Japanese occupation, they were reclaimed as paddy fields, and in the 1970s to the early 2000s, as industrial sites.
In the 1980s, Mr. Go, a professor at Seoul National University studying in Germany, highlighted the value of these tidal lands which are full of many resources and should be preserved. He mentioned that the mudflats in the southern and western coastal areas are one of the world's top five.
Since then, many scholars have begun to report their value. Diverse species such as birds, fish, and mollusks live there, maintaining a rich marine ecosystem. The area purifies dirty water flowing from inland, reducing the damage caused by strong waves. In addition, it provides a place for tourism, as well as a bountiful seafood source for people.
Thanks to the scholars' promotional efforts of the wetlands, local governments have begun to advertise their importance since the late 2000s by holding festivals and through preservation and clean-up efforts of the coastal villages.
Nowadays, ominous signs of climate change, such as changes in rainfall, abnormal temperatures, and a reduction in the population of honeybees have shown the effects of excessive discharges of waste, carbon dioxide emission, or environmental destruction.
The mudflats do an excellent job of absorbing carbon dioxide. Scientists reported that they absorb CO2 every year equivalent to emissions given off by 110,000 cars. So their benefit in curbing global warming is really immense.
These multiple benefits of the wetlands have played important roles, such as preventing global warming, providing food, and modulating the ecosystem.
Sadly, more than half of the tidal lands in the Southern and Western coasts have been reclaimed as paddy fields or used for other purposes. However, the Seocheon, Gochang, Shinan, Boseong, and Suncheon mudflats in the southern and western areas were designated as UNESCO Natural World Heritage sites on July 26, 2021. Their importance as symbols of our past that should be handed down to our descendants without being damaged is crucial. The science magazine "Nature" said that the ecological value of mudflats is one hundred times more than farmland and 10 times more than forests.
While our ecosystem is being attacked by global warming, the mudflats may be the last bastions of nature to protect us.
Kim Jin-heon is a retired English teacher who published a book titled, "Flower Is Flower."
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