The sight of locals in the Seosan-Taean area pouring petrol on the reeds in Cheonsu Bay, a haven for seasonal birds, and then applauding as the reeds burned is shocking. They even chased the birds using fireworks. It was a protest designed to keep the area from being declared a natural ecosystem that needs to be protected, the belief being that the existence of such a protected area would hinder the construction of the "corporate town well-being leisure complex" being pursued by the local government there.
With slogans like "Who comes first, birds or locals?" residents say they will continue with their campaign and overturn fields and burning rice and straw areas to prevent the seasonal birds from living in the area. That is most unfortunate. Birds and humans in and around Cheonsu Bay are not in a relationship were one side has to die because the other side lives. Recently environmental preservation and development have been in conflict, but ultimately the environmental movement is all for the sake of people. If nature's ecosystem is destroyed people soon will be unable to sustain themselves. It all boils down to a difference of whether you are going to be shortsighted or take a long-term view of the options. Furthermore the fine natural resources that are gradually becoming rarer are gradually becoming more valuable economically. It is contradictory to eradicate birds by burning reed fields to build a "leisure complex," and it shows you how distorted the country's development policies are.
It's not just local residents. The governments of Seosan City and Taean'gun reportedly asked the Ministry of the Environment to maintain the area's "class three" classification or that it be put under special management. You cannot rid yourself of questions of whether residents have been able to set fires in protest because they believe the local government is behind them. Their development strategy does not in any way look wise for the government bodies there to be ruining a globally significant seasonal bird area to build yet another golf course and series of hotels. We are not suggesting that nature be preserved unconditionally. We earnestly call on governments and residents in the region to put the natural resources that exist there and not elsewhere to wise use, to develop development plans that are unique to their situation.
The Hankyoreh, 18 May 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
