Korea’s wetland reserves have recently been discovered to be home to wildlife, including endangered species.
Since 2011, the National Institute of Environmental Research, part of the Ministry of Environment, has conducted a series of research projects into 17 wetland reserves, such as Upo Wetland in Changnyeong-gun County, Gyeongsangnam-do Province, and the estuaries of Hangang River in Seoul and of Nakdonggang River in Busan.
The results show that these wetlands, with the total area of approximately 117 square kilometers, amounting to just 0.1 percent of the nation’s total land area, are colonized by 4,187 species, including 60 species of endangered animals and plants.
The findings of a five-year research project, carried out by the National Institute of Environmental Research, show that eight first-grade endangered species, such as otters (top) and sibynophis chinensis (bottom), inhabit 17 wetland reserves across Korea.
The findings mean that 60 species of endangered wildlife, an amount which is equivalent to about 24 percent of a total of 246 varieties which have been designated as “endangered” by the Ministry of Environment, are living in these wetlands. Among the 60 species found are eight animals and plants categorized as first-grade endangered species, such as otters, sibynophis chinensis and storks, and 52 second-grade endangered species, like wildcats, pitta brachyura and flying squirrels.
The total 4,187 species discovered also make up about 11 percent of the 38,090 species from the “National Species List (국가생물종목록),” a list that catalogues the scientific name and distribution status of species living across the nation. The 4,187 species include 1,454 kinds of plant, 2,391 types of insect, 34 types of amphibian and reptile, as well as 190 varieties of bird, 38 mammal species and 80 types of fish.
A flying squirrel, a second-grade endangered species, is found to live in the nation’s wetland reserves.
“Our recent research has led us to affirm that wetlands are core locations for the conservation of the nation’s biodiversity,” said an official from the National Institute of Environment Research. “We will make a list of species which inhabit such wetlands, so that it can be used to manage and maintain the nation’s biological resources.”
By Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: National Institute of Environmental Research
jiae5853@korea.kr
