Snettisham's Samboilbae for Saemangeum

Breaking news - 29th January 2004.

According to the South Korean Daum news website and other news agencies, a higher court in Seoul announced earlier today (January 29) that the decision last July to suspend the Saemangeum reclamation project has now been over-ruled, following the appeal of the Ministry of Agriculture. The reclamation project, the largest known project of its kind in the world, is set to continue. As you will know the Saemangeum estuarine system is the site for staging Spoon-billed Sandpiper and Nordmann's Greenshank; and the loss of this site will strike a major blow against the flyway's migratory waterbird populations.

The South Korean court today ruled that Mr. Choi-Yul, the former General-Secretary of the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement, and the main plaintiff in the case first heard in July, has no legal basis to participate in the court process - as he is not from the actual area being directly affected by the reclamation - his concerns can therefore not be formally recognised.

Lawyers opposed to the reclamation who are contesting the case have vowed that they will appeal the case to a higher court still. They must win.

This retrogressive but unsurprising decision (considering the power of money politics domestically) comes at a time when 3 of South Korea's leading spriritual-environmentalists and two respected wetland activists are visiting the United Kingdom, to raise awareness of the issue and to participate in a ritual "samboilbae" (three-steps-and-one-bow) walk at Snettisham RSPB reserve, on Saturday January 31st.

We would like therefore to appeal again, please, to all those who love wetlands and the birds and people they support, to spare just a few moments and protest against this most devastating of projects in the coming days and weeks: please pass this update along to your collegaues and friends; please signour online petition (at: http://www.wbkenglish.com/petition01.asp); please send letters or mails or phone your local South Korean embassy; please join in a declaration-reading on the upcoming World Wetlands Day; and please, if you live in the UK anywhere near Snettisham, join the walk on Saturday and with a few small steps help get this issue properly covered by the media.

What's the Samboilbae for Saemangeum all about ?

Charlie Moores (www.wbkenglish.com) takes up the story...."wetlands worldwide are faced with degradation and destruction. Although key to fisheries and water resources, critical for the maintenance of life and biodiversity, wetlands continue to be undervalued and "lost". Long-term this loss of wetland and wetland function threatens human life on a huge scale. In the short term, the paving over of one of the world's greatest estuaries, the Saemangeum estuarine system in South Korea, will rob the world of extraordinary beauty and contribute to the imminent extinction of one of the planet's most charismatic bird species - the Siberian-nesting Spoon-billed Sandpiper.

International concern about the Saemangeum Reclamation Project and its global impacts on bird populations and local fishing communities has continued to grow in recent years due to a series of initiatives involving Korean NGOs and overseas organizations. Expression of this international concern, through petitions and embassy visits, is motivating Korean-led opposition, strengthening the resolve of the courts, and attracting very positive media coverage both within and outside of Korea.

We ask you therefore please to join with others in South Korea and around the world: celebrate World Wetlands Day 2004 with three steps and one bow ("sam- bo il-bae"), in a coordinated walk to draw attention to threatened internationally important wetlands in your own country and around the world- especially Saemangeum in South Korea. The slow, ritual walk, consists of three steps and a deep bow, in which the walker kneels and touches their forehead to the ground as a sign of respect to nature.

For more information click here: http://www.wbkenglish.com/samforsaem.asp

With very best wishes,
Charlie and Nial Moores, Kim SuKyung,
www.wbkenglish.com
wbkenglish@aol.com