Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rapier]

I appeal to all of you to help protect the threatened last remnants of Korea's rich birdlife and wild places...Please join this conservation society

http://birdskorea.org/index.asp

please, add your voice and become a member of birds korea- a foreign/english initiative aimed at raising awareness and protecting the rich array of birds in korea.
More members of conservation/environmental groups are needed desperately:Urgent action is needed to oppose rampant and ill-considered construction projects!! Korea is engaged in ecocide, environmental destruction, the order of which would never be allowed in any other first world nation.
Places like Saemangeum, or Songdo mudflats- threatened with 100% reclamation by developers.
Birds like this pretty Spoonbilled sandpiper

..and many more- will be wiped out by careless development that consistently goes ahead in Korea without any environmental impact assessments; needless building projects that will concrete over the prettiest and most wildlife rich habitats of Korea's coastline...

[rapier]

The sheer scale of environmental destruction in korea is shocking to anyone in touch with nature or the outdoors; every single one of Koreas estuaries is slated for reclamation and development: some for dams (that quickly lead to lowered water quality), others for office space (to prepare for the hub of asia miracle).
So much land is available to build on elsewhere, but coastal areas are the cheapest option, although the most wildlife rich.
If any of you doubt the value of birds/wildlife/preservation of ecosystems in korea- just consider a few points:

1) Birds/wildlife indicates a healthy environment that is likewise fit for people to live in: their absence shows the opposite.
2) Estuaries and intertidal mudflats are vital spawning grounds for fish and seafood- a big industry supporting many people in Korea.
3) The future being forced upon everyone in this country is a concreted, drab, lifeless one without a natural heritage: Rivers are banked and concreted into sterile troughs: Marshlands full of rare plants, butterflies and insects are drained: etc etc...
4) As yet there is not a single Nature reserve, bird reserve, wildlife preserve in Korea. There are no influential environmental groups to oppose reckless development: big business and profiteering developers get their way at every turn by trashing what remains of the countryside.
5) There is almost zero awareness of environmental issues in Korea.

[fidel]

[margaret]

Rapier--where can we join this? Can you give us a link? I can't find a way to join on their site.
Margaret

[rapier]

[coolsage]

Rapier, you seem to be fond of this country, and I applaud your commitment to saving this particular ecosytem from devastation. I hope it's not already too late. Korea is on the path of a major flyway for many migratory birds (like I have to tell you), but now, in addition to the indifference of the locals, there seem to be some yahoos like Buddy Bradley, posted just above, who can't wait to get out and finish off what's left of the avian wildlife here. Hopefully, he and his ilk won't qualify for a gun permit here, although I don't know how that shakes out. Clearly, somebody needs to shake him. I've been here long enough to witness the degradation of this small country's fragile balance with nature. There just isn't much left of it. The headlong rush to prosperity here has compromised the very place from which it all began. The price hasn't been paid, yet. Cheers.

[eamo]

A good cause which I will gladly sign up to. As soon as I'm sober.