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| This June 14 photo shows a wetland ecological reserve alongside Hwapo River in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province. Courtesy of South Gyeongsang Provincial Government |
By Ko Dong-hwan
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| In this June 3 photo is a Suweon-tree frog in a wetland near Gimpo International Airport in southwestern Seoul. Courtesy of National Institute of Environmental Research |
The Ministry of Environment and the National Institute of Ecology have jointly amassed and released data online about 2,704 wetland areas scattered across the country. The data includes locations, sizes and species living at each of the sites.
The data is the result of the authorities' research since 2000 in accordance with the country's Wetlands Preservation Act. The first couple rounds of research were completed in 2010, the third round was conducted from 2011 to 2015 and the fourth was run from 2016 until 2021.
Past versions of the Inland Wetlands List have so far been used by the government to establish policies to designate and protect the wetlands.
In its latest version, the 1,216 location entries contain information about 5,677 species living around them. Among the species are 107 endangered wildlife species in Korea, which are 40 percent of the country's total wildlife species under the threat of extinction. The Natural and Ecology Policy Division under the ministry's Nature Conservation Bureau, which oversaw the creation of the list, has pointed to ecological diversity as one of the key reasons that preserving wetlands is critical.
The entire area of the wetlands on the latest list adds up to over 1,153.4 square kilometers, about 1 percent of the country's total land area. South Jeolla Province has the most extensive wetlands in the country with 228.3 square kilometers, followed by South Chungcheong Province with 198.3 square kilometers. In terms of the number of wetlands, the rank was topped by South Jeolla Province with 476, followed by North Gyeongsang Province with 373.
Most wetlands in the country are formed around streams, according to the list, numbering 1,326 and spanning over 990 square kilometers in total. They are also spotted around lakes (635) and mountains (466). Other wetlands were also made artificially (277).
The ministry expects the latest list will help shape policies to preserve and restore the lands and also form a critical boundary to protect in carrying out national environmental assessments that are required prior to land development projects.
"We hope that people get more familiar with our wetlands and utilize the list," said Kang Seong-gu, the chief of the Nature and Ecology Policy Division. "We will also make the list a basis for future policies so that they will increasingly take into account scientific findings and subjective facts."
The list is available at ECO bank, an ecological information site run by the National Institute of Ecology, and DATA.go.kr, a public data portal run by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.
