Dr Nial Moores, Nationwide Director, Birds Korea
A heat spring welcome to all of our members and supporters!
Again in February, we posted a public replace of our work which recognized our 5 predominant, overlapping priorities for 2026: (1) Proceed conservation actions in internationally essential chicken habitats near the border with DPR Korea; (2) Proceed help for eBird and for the EAAFP’s Scaly-sided Merganser Activity Pressure; (3) Make progress with our wetland restoration undertaking in Busan as a part of a wider technique for selling conservation of Jap Taiga Bean Goose 큰부리큰기러기 and the decrease Nakdong River floodplain; (4) Proceed clarifying points related to a number of proposed airports; and (5) Proceed improvement of a brand new on-line area.
Right here follows an replace, following a number of months of outstanding progress – solely made attainable by the dedication of fellow Birds Koreans and the help of many fantastic volunteers.
Internal Border
Work continues particularly in Yeoncheon County (Gyeonggi Province) and on Baengnyeong Island (Incheon).
In Yeoncheon, work is being led by Birds Korea Imjin-Hantan Consultant Baek Seung-Kwang and Birds Korea Yeoncheon, with Consultant Kim Hee-Music. Analysis this yr has included common counts of wintering cranes; counts each 3-4 days by means of the northward migration interval of Scaly-sided Mergansers 호사비오리 , supported by a small grant from the EAAFP; and beneath a contract for the monitoring of biodiversity from Yeoncheon County, additional survey of Lengthy-billed Plovers 흰목물떼새 and extra species alongside 4 rivers within the Yeoncheon Imjin River Biosphere Reserve.
Our analysis in 2026 has already discovered a number of further chicken species for the “Yeoncheon Checklist” (Japanese Quail 메추라기, Black-winged Stilt 장다리물떼새, Oriental Pratincole 제비물떼새, Taimyr / Lesser Black -backed Gull 검은등갈매기 and Siberian Home Martin 흰턱제비); added the County’s second file of Demoiselle Crane 쇠재두루미; and revealed that numbers of Scaly-sided Merganser 호사비오리 (peak rely of 47 in March) and Lengthy-billed Plovers 흰목물떼새 (c. 44, with a number of nests and 4 chicks noticed between April twentieth and twenty third) have remained broadly related between years. Nevertheless, each species have gotten more and more concentrated into fewer and fewer river stretches, coincident with a continued enhance in disturbance.
Further highlights from Yeoncheon this yr additionally embrace common birdwatching occasions at Samicheon; and the publication of a really fantastic account of nesting Barn Swallows by Ms Lee Suyoung, now accessible to learn free of charge on kindle or to buy on-line.
On Baengnyeong Island, the location of one in all 10 or extra proposed airports, Incheon KFEM and CORI (Local weather Ocean Analysis Institute: https://cori.re.kr/en/?page_id=78) organized a wonderful seminar on April twenty eighth which was attended by ten folks from a number of environmental organisations and two islanders.
The seminar included enter from the islanders; and contained displays from island-resident Ms Park Cheong Woon of Inexperienced Korea Incheon on the conservation of Noticed Seals; Dr Choi Hyun-Ah of the Hanns Seidel Basis, Korea (and likewise a lifetime member of Birds Korea), who centered on Inexperienced Détente and the necessity for linking conservation actions at native, nationwide, regional and international scales; and the Nationwide Director of Birds Korea, Dr Nial Moores, who highlighted Baengnyeong Island’s distinctive significance for the analysis and conservation of Korea’s birds. Analysis confirms that the island helps three species of waterbird in Ramsar-defined internationally essential concentrations; and a minimum of 29 globally threatened and ~49 nationally threatened chicken species have been recorded on the island since 2013 (with ten of those breeding). The island can also be outstanding for giant actions of diurnal migrants, together with a day final yr with greater than 35,000 Brambling 되새 and 1,200Oriental Turtle Dove 멧비둘기 and a excessive variety of raptors throughout migration, with e.g., a peak day rely of 1,000 Crested Honey Buzzard 벌매. Survey on the island has additionally produced quite a few nationwide file day-counts, together with 104 globally Endangered Oriental Stork 황새 (recorded by Inexperienced Korea United’s Park Cheong Woon) and 460 Critically Endangered Yellow-breasted Bunting 검은머리촉새 within the final couple of years.
This spring fieldwork continues in fact, with Baengnyeong Island’s chicken record began in 2013 now standing at 401, because of the addition of Oriental Plover 큰물떼새 discovered this spring by Ms Park Cheong Woon. A number of Birds Korea members and different birders will go to the island in Might…
Jap Taiga Bean Goose 큰부리큰기러기 and the Decrease Nakdong River
Kindly supported by SER and Microsoft, and carried out beneath our MOU with the Busan Nakdong River Initiatives Administration Workplace, Birds Korea has been main a collaborative undertaking to transform a rice-field in Maekdo Ecopark right into a floodplain-type wetland with a self-sustaining native plant group that can be utilized by foraging Jap Taiga Bean Goose 큰부리큰기러기 and different floodplain wetland species.
After a massively difficult administrative course of, and because of the arduous work of Land Aura and the Nakdong Estuary Eco-centre, permission was lastly accredited on the finish of March to excavate and reprofile the sector so that concentrate on wetland vegetation could be supported.
A staff, led by Professor Byun Chaeho, then divided the sector up into quadrats to facilitate monitoring of the undertaking’s success.
Two volunteer occasions for seeding and planting the undertaking web site have been additionally organised by Professor Byun, supported by Microsoft, the Gangseo Gu District Workplace, the Nakdong Estuary Eco-centre and Mr Kim Eojin, well-known because the wholly impartial 새덕후 Korean Birder (fortunately additionally a Birds Korea member!).
9 volunteers from Microsoft labored on the web site on April 10th; and on April 11th, 95 volunteers joined, most recruited by means of the Gangseo Gu workplace and by Mr Kim Eojin. As well as, on each dates, employees from the Ganseo-Gu Workplace and the Nakdong Estuary Eco-centre have been additionally current to help the volunteers: our honest because of everybody concerned!
Thanks to those fantastic volunteers, who stayed remarkably optimistic and enthusiastic regardless of very troublesome and muddy circumstances, beneath the supervision of Professor Byun and his staff, “7,200 seed flats containing the seed flats of 6 wetland vegetation (Sorbaria sorbifolia, Beckmannia syzigachne, Bromus japonicus, Lythrum salicaria, Echinochloa crus-galli and Zizania latifolia) and three,250 pots containing roost of six wetland vegetation (Bolboschoenus maritimus, Zizania latifolia, Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani, Acorus calamus, Nymphoides peltata and Iris setosa)“ have been positioned in 1.2ha of the sector (Prof. Byun, Kakao textual content message, April 15th).
Month-to-month surveys of birds will proceed from Might; and a web site go to is deliberate in mid-June to evaluate the success of the seeding and planting.
Monitoring of birds and restored vegetation will then proceed for the subsequent two years (if you’re all in favour of volunteering for these surveys, please contact Birds Korea); and a Youtube video will probably be launched, most likely towards the top of the yr.
Along with the volunteer actions, because of the coordinating efforts of Dr Kim Su-Kyung (one in all Birds Korea’s unique co-founders) and the generosity of the Nakdong Estuary Eco-centre, we have been additionally in a position to maintain a gathering there on April 10th to debate the potential of beginning a specialised community to provoke simultaneous survey of the Jap Taiga Bean Goose subsequent winter, with this rely effort together with the undertaking web site and the rest of Maekdo, the Nakdong Estuary, Samnak and Daejo Eco-parks, Hwapocheon, Junam and maybe Upo. Such analysis is required, with a purpose to develop a extra strong inhabitants estimate of the species to make use of as a baseline for assessing the influence of conservation initiatives – corresponding to this undertaking.
Additional dialogue on this proposed community will happen on July 4th at a gathering of the Rice-field Community at Hwapocheon.
On the very finish of April, we additionally discovered that our proposed 2026 undertaking on the adjoining Samnak and Daejo Eco-parks has been accredited by Microsoft. Our because of them, as soon as extra. This undertaking will deal with awareness-raising, training, capacity-building and analysis at these two websites in Busan, which additionally maintain internationally essential concentrations of Jap Taiga Bean Goose 큰부리큰기러기. A part of this undertaking proposal additionally requires simultaneous surveys of this species.
Airports
Birds Korea continues to offer evidence-based data on the possibly excessive chicken strike danger at a number of proposed new airports (particularly Gadeokdo in Busan; in Saemangeum; within the Hwaseong Wetlands; and on Baengnyeong Island).
This consists of by means of direct communication with media; and in displays in Hwaseong on January 29th and on Baengnyeong Island on April 28th.
Analysis may even proceed at Maekdo and Samnak, and now at Daejo too, on recording the flight route and approximate top of geese and different waterbirds in relation to the flight paths of plane flying into Gimhae Worldwide Airport. Thus far, now we have not discovered any proof to recommend that geese and swans in these ecoparks pose a excessive chicken strike danger to plane; though it’s attainable that flocks of Nice Cormorants 민물가마우지 flying from the estuary to the Nakdong River may generally pose a possible danger.
Following the horrible crash at Muan in December 2024, the ROK has been growing new measures which purpose to cut back the chicken strike danger. New measures are wanted, and naturally must be in full accordance with knowledgeable steerage supplied by the Worldwide Civilian Aviation Organisation (ICAO) of their formal publications.
Which means at some current airports, measures may have to be taken to cut back the attractiveness of habitats instantly beneath the low-altitude flight paths of plane, whereas sustaining habitats and their biodiversity close to to current airports outdoors of flight paths – as a result of the 2 predominant pillars of ICAO’s work are aviation security and environmental sustainability. This additionally means, in fact, that new airports shouldn’t be constructed “adjoining to wildlife reserves, lakes, rivers and coastal areas” (ICAO, 1987). As clarified by ICAO, “Fowl hazards at proposed new airports could be minimized by cautious number of the location to keep away from established chicken migration routes and areas naturally enticing to birds” , (ICAO 2002 Part 2.5.8). Opposite to this steerage, the proposed Baengneyong, Hwaseong, Saemangeum and Gadeokdo airports would all be in-built “areas naturally enticing to birds”; the proposed airports at Baengnyeong, Hwaseong, Saemangeum would all be constructed adjoining to lakes in coastal areas; the proposed airports at Hwaseong, Saemangeum and at Gadeokdo would all be inside 6-7km of nationally protected chicken habitats, and the one on Baengnyeong inside 3km of a protected breeding colony of Black-tailed Gulls 괭이갈매기, holding shut to twenty,000 people; and the airports on Baengnyeong Island and at Gadeokdo would each be on established chicken migration routes.
We subsequently proceed to welcome all and each alternative to speak instantly with related authorities our bodies, decision-makers and airline representatives, with a purpose to share our analysis knowledge and issues.
Our New On-line House – and eBird
Like every part, the best way that individuals expertise birds and the setting is altering. Again after we began Birds Korea and our two archived web sites (birdskorea.org and birdskorea.or.kr), there have been only a few birdwatchers in Korea and data on birds and their habitats was arduous to entry and share. Now, hotspots and chicken data are straightforward to seek out by means of eBird; most likely each chicken photographer has their very own social media web page or web site; and many individuals are getting all in favour of birds by means of apps like Merlin, particularly after Birds Korea led translation of it into Korean.
This all implies that our weblog is now not match for goal. We’re subsequently doing what we will to reply. Led by Ms Angela Choi (Choi Su-Yeon), work has been occurring for greater than a yr already to construct a wholly new platform, deliberately designed to enhance communication between and with our members and to make higher use of our engagement with eBird. Progress on this has been boosted this yr by a really productive three-month collaboration with Group Kkachi 까치 – a gaggle of six Grasp’s college students from the European College of Administration and Expertise (ESMT Berlin) who volunteered to help Birds Korea as a part of their course work. Previously few weeks, 5 years of weblog posts have been migrated to the brand new platform, which we purpose to open in August; and we now have a a lot clearer understanding of how we will use the information being generated by eBird to help our conservation mission. Our honest thanks go as soon as extra to ESMT Berlin and Group 까치, together with the three staff members who visited Korea to be taught extra about our group.
Once more, our honest because of everybody who works for, helps and volunteers for Birds Korea. Collectively, allow us to all work for a a lot better, extra biodiverse and sustainable future!
