How conservation efforts breathed new life into South Korea’s Suncheon Bay

Various initiatives have helped bay become eco belt and moneymaking asset, offering a respite from hectic city life and a home for endangered birds

Area is also playing host to International Garden Expo, involving many nations; it aims to transform Suncheon’s entire city centre into a floral oasis

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An aerial view of the Suncheonman Bay National Garden in South Korea. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 4:00pm, 9 Apr 2023

Suncheon Bay on the southern Korean coast is an evolving example that shows how conservation and protection can pay richer dividends than rapid development, transforming a sleepy town into a lucrative eco-tourism attraction.

The coastal wetland, a Unesco World Heritage site, is well known for its tidal flats and a 230-hectare (570 acres) area of reed beds, and is home to various bird habitats where more than 200 species – including 33 rare and endangered ones – can be observed.

“While other cities were focusing on development and construction, Suncheon put all in to bet on the protection of the environment,” said Roh Kwan-kyu, mayor of the city about 6km north off the bay area.

Residents fleeing the hustle and bustle of urban life have increasingly flocked to Suncheon Bay, with visitor numbers surging to 2 million every year, up from 130,000 in 2006.

The conservation movement to protect the bay started in the mid-1990s when environmentalists successfully prevented the collection of sand for construction materials from reed fields, which serve as habitats for various creatures and help purify water and air.

The initiative took a step forward when 28 sq km of the bay and 10.3 sq km of the nearby Bosung wetland were both registered as wetlands of international importance in 2006 under the Ramsar Convention, named after the Iranian city where the treaty was signed in 1971.

Sunset at Suncheon Bay. Photo: Park Chan-kyong

The recognition was a first for South Korea and was followed in 2009 by Suncheon removing 282 power pylons from rice paddies to prevent birds, including hooded cranes listed internationally as vulnerable, from being caught up by power lines and killed.