Saemangeum and theSaemangeum Shorebird Monitoring Program (SSMP) 2006-2008
Saemangeum (pronounced "say-man-gum") is a 40 100 ha ongoing "reclamation" project in South Korea, entailing damming the estuaries of the Mangyeung and Dongjin Rivers, replacing vast bird-rich tidal-flats and sea-shallows with land and a huge freshwater reservoir, both still lacking any clear end use.
Started in 1991, the 33-km long seawall was finally completed on 21st April, 2006 It is the largest known project of its kind, destroying the single most important site for staging shorebirds in the whole of the Yellow Sea - itself a core area for migrant shorebirds of the East Asian/Australasian Flyway.
Saemangeum in April 2006 ...
Saemangeum in April 2007 ...
Saemangeum in April 2008 ...
Incredible as it seems, no open or clear program was in place to monitor the impacts on wildlife of this massive project - despite South Korea being a signatory to the Ramsar Convention, despite Ramsar Resolution 9.15 in 2005, recommending "the government of the Republic of Korea advise the Secretary General of the current situation concerning the sea-wall construction and reclamation of the Saemangeum coastal wetlands, and the impact of the construction work undertaken to date on the internationally important migratory waterbird populations dependent upon these wetlands" (Ramsar Res. 9.15.27.10).
Even more incredible, the major project proponents such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) and the Ministry of Construction and Transport have continued to insist that the reclamation is "environmentally friendly". The MAF even posted on their formal website in 2003 a long account defending the project, stating among other things that displaced shorebirds would move to the neighboring Geum Estuary and Gomso Bay; and that the reclamation area, like others made before it, would actually be good for the birds! (For a rebuttal by Birds Korea of these absurd claims, please go to MAFrebuttal) This was before their plans to reclaim the Geum Estuary as well were promoted once more.
As our response, Birds Korea initiated the Saemangeum Shorebird Monitoring Program (SSMP) in formal partnership with the international Australasian Wader Studies Group (AWSG), a specialist group of Birds Australia (Australia's partner to the global organization, Birdlife International).
The SSMP is a three-year program (2006-2008), entailing fieldwork (counting shorebirds, assessing habitat changes, and researching benthos during the northward shorebird migration period), dissemination of data gathered, and advocacy.
SSMP Reports
Further background
Started in 1991, a 33 km long seawall built to cut both estuaries from the Yellow Sea was completed on 21 April, 2006. Further dyke-building, planned to start in 2008, will probably take another ten years to complete.
The Saemangeum "reclamation" project is believed the largest single coastal reclamation in the world, and remains hugely controversial. It has provoked some of the largest ever environmental protests inside Korea, and the most sustained international protests ever against a South Korean development project. Outer seawall construction was stopped several times due to these protests: to allow national courts to debate the legality of the "reclamation"; and to consider ways in which to reduce water pollution.
By 25 April, 2006, only four days after seawall closure, shellfish beds in the enclosed area started to die. By the end of May, most were dead, and water quality was already deteriorating rapidly. 90% of Saemangeum's vast tidal-flats are now expected to be lost by 2007, either dried out or permanently flooded. Water pollution is expected to worsen dramatically. The area had enormous local and national importance for fisheries, supporting the livelihoods of an estimated 25 000 people.
Internationally, the natural Saemangeum system was the single most important shorebird staging area in the Yellow Sea, itself a core part of the East Asian Australasian Flyway. At least 18 species of shorebird and 9 other species of waterbird were supported by the area in internationally important concentrations.
- Key species included the Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper (highest counts of over 200), the Endangered Nordmann's Greenshank (over 60) and the Great Knot, the latter with a peak count of over 125 000: 30% of the world's population.
- Probably over 300 000 shorebirds depended on the Saemangeum estuarine system annually.
Birds Korea and the specialist Australasian Wader Studies Group launched the Saemangeum Shorebird Monitoring Program (SSMP) in spring 2006, to monitor and publicise the impacts of this reclamation.
The completed Report is online and available for download (for Preliminary Data from the survey go to SSMP: Preliminary data):
