On November 21st, Korea’s first worldwide symposium on the globally Endangered Scaly-sided Merganser 호사비오리 was held in Yeoncheon County. Organised by Yeoncheon County and Birds Korea, the symposium opened with an tackle by County Mayor Kim Deog Hyun and a wonderful brief video by Kim Eojin (higher generally known as Youtuber 새덕후 Korean Birder), with some beautiful close-up footage filmed particularly for this occasion.
Displays related to the conservation of the Scaly-sided Merganser at a spread of scales from international to native had been then given “offline” by Ms. Jennifer George, the Chief Government of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP), who launched a number of the advantages of becoming a member of the Flyway Web site Community; on-line by Dr. Diana Solovyeva, Coordinator of the EAAFP’s Scaly-sided Merganser Process Power, who launched the species’ international vary and migration routes, and known as for extra analysis on the Korean Peninsula throughout migration to complement current information on over-wintering (as outlined within the paper she coauthored with us, for publication within the Journal Wildfowl in December); offline by Dr Yoo Miyeon, the supervisor of the Yeoncheon Imjin River Biosphere Reserve and the principle organizer of the occasion, who defined concerning the goals of the Biosphere Reserve and launched the proposed Imjin River Flyway Community Web site (nonetheless beneath overview by the Ministry of Setting following submission in October); and offline by Director Baek Seung-Kwang, who launched analysis on mergansers on the Imjin River and the specter of disturbance posed to the species within the Biosphere Reserve.
The ultimate session regarded extra deeply at planning and design, aimed toward offering financial and different advantages for native communities whereas additionally enhancing ecosystem well being by way of restoration and designs to scale back disturbance. Following a brief video greeting from College of California Berkeley’s Professor Matt Kondolf, UCB Professor Emeritus Randy Hester supplied three on-line different visions for the Jeongok Spoonbills Wetland Park Mission website and a collection of 35 pictures which captured the spirit of potentialities on the website. These pictures had been additionally printed out, with a number of copies supplied to every desk within the assembly room. Based mostly on a participatory planning train developed by Professors Hester and McNally and colleagues, the viewers, seated at ten or so tables, had been then given time to pick out their private three favorite pictures; adopted by 20 minutes of dialogue at every desk to pick out every desk’s prime ten pictures, ranked in significance; culminating in a consultant from every desk studying out their group’s record and summarizing their reasoning. When requested whether or not they wish to take part in additional conferences concerning the proposed Wetlands Park, two-thirds of the viewers (about 50 out of 75) raised their hand.
The robust success of this symposium, constructed on years of arduous work by so many individuals for this lovely species and for the Biosphere Reserve, was because of the help of the mayor and the superb organisation by the Tourism Division in Yeoncheon County; the top quality of the displays; and the enthusiastic participation of everybody who got here.
Now, all of us very a lot hope that this symposium might be adopted quickly by affirmation – and celebration! – of the designation of the Imjin River Flyway Community Web site!
