Charlie M
Well-known member
Dear Members,
As most of you will know, the massive Saemangeum Reclamation project on South Korea's west coast still threatens huge numbers of migratory shorebirds, and if completed would greatly accelerate the already rapid declines in the globally threatened Spoon-billed Sandpiper and Spotted Greenshank.
In July this year a Korean Court ordered that all work on this massively destructive reclamation project (at 40 100 ha, the world's largest such project) must cease - an order that is being resisted by pro-reclamation ministries in the Korean Government.
With the courts still weighing up the evidence, and the national government nervous of increasing international pressure, it now seems that the decision on Saemangeum's future will be made sometime next year - when, the pro-reclamation camp hopes, domestic and international attention is likely to have shifted elsewhere.
WBKEnglish has therefore been working with Korean and other conservation groups to keep the pressure on, and to get the reclamation stopped permanently - removing for good the threat that hangs over the region's most important wetland.
As part of our strategy we are presently organising an event called "Samboilbae for
Saemangeum", to take place on or around World Wetlands Day, Feb 2nd 2004. The
samboilbae is a uniquely Korean form of protest where participants take three
steps followed by a low bow: in recent Korean environmental history this has come to symbolise the struggle of the Korean people for the conservation of Saemangeum. By organising an international, coordinated sambolibae to take place at as many threatened internationally important wetlands as possible, we are confident we can draw the attention of the leading media to the threat to Saemangeum and to other wetlands worldwide.
With the Korean media picking up on the international protests, pressure will continue to increase on those sections of the South Korean Government that are already feeling considerable discomfort - a further step in a long, long jouney to get this catastrophic reclamation stopped once and for all.
We of course need the help of as many concerned people as possible.
If you'd like to know more and would like to get involved, please go to
http://www.wbkenglish.com/samforsaem.asp
(PS. I'm going to be in Korea for the next week, so if you respond to this thread and don't get an answer for a while - apologies!)
(Charlie and Nial Moores, Kim Sukyung
www.wbkenglish.com
[email protected])
As most of you will know, the massive Saemangeum Reclamation project on South Korea's west coast still threatens huge numbers of migratory shorebirds, and if completed would greatly accelerate the already rapid declines in the globally threatened Spoon-billed Sandpiper and Spotted Greenshank.
In July this year a Korean Court ordered that all work on this massively destructive reclamation project (at 40 100 ha, the world's largest such project) must cease - an order that is being resisted by pro-reclamation ministries in the Korean Government.
With the courts still weighing up the evidence, and the national government nervous of increasing international pressure, it now seems that the decision on Saemangeum's future will be made sometime next year - when, the pro-reclamation camp hopes, domestic and international attention is likely to have shifted elsewhere.
WBKEnglish has therefore been working with Korean and other conservation groups to keep the pressure on, and to get the reclamation stopped permanently - removing for good the threat that hangs over the region's most important wetland.
As part of our strategy we are presently organising an event called "Samboilbae for
Saemangeum", to take place on or around World Wetlands Day, Feb 2nd 2004. The
samboilbae is a uniquely Korean form of protest where participants take three
steps followed by a low bow: in recent Korean environmental history this has come to symbolise the struggle of the Korean people for the conservation of Saemangeum. By organising an international, coordinated sambolibae to take place at as many threatened internationally important wetlands as possible, we are confident we can draw the attention of the leading media to the threat to Saemangeum and to other wetlands worldwide.
With the Korean media picking up on the international protests, pressure will continue to increase on those sections of the South Korean Government that are already feeling considerable discomfort - a further step in a long, long jouney to get this catastrophic reclamation stopped once and for all.
We of course need the help of as many concerned people as possible.
If you'd like to know more and would like to get involved, please go to
http://www.wbkenglish.com/samforsaem.asp
(PS. I'm going to be in Korea for the next week, so if you respond to this thread and don't get an answer for a while - apologies!)
(Charlie and Nial Moores, Kim Sukyung
www.wbkenglish.com
[email protected])
