Birds starve at South Korea wetland

Fewer than 1,000 spoonbilled sandpipers remain in the wild.Tens of thousands of migratory birds are facing starvation in SouthKorea, the UK-based Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)says.The group says a land reclamation project has destroyed key wetlandsused by the birds on their way from Asia to their breeding groundsin the Arctic.Without the food at the Saemangeum wetlands, on the east coast, manyof the birds will not survive the journey.Two endangered species of wading bird face extinction because of thechanges.There are believed to be fewer than 1,000 mature spoonbilledsandpipers and Nordmann's greenshanks left in the wild.The RSPB and other wildlife and conservation groups are highlightingthe environmental problems at Saemangeum to mark World MigratoryBirds Day.'Motorway service station'Saemangeum was once an estuarine tidal flat on South Korea's YellowSea coast.What we've lost here is one of the jewels in the crown of wetlandhabitatsSarah Dawkins, RSPBIt was an important feeding ground for about 400,000 migrating birdsmaking their way on a 24,000km round-trip between Asia and Alaskaand Russia.But 15 years ago, the government revealed plans for the world'sbiggest land reclamation project in order to drain the estuary andcreate fertile paddy fields.After a succession of legal challenges from conservationists, the33km sea wall was finally closed a year ago.Since then, according to the RSPB, the vast wetlands have beenreplaced by parched earth, shellfish beds and plants have beendestroyed, and thousands of birds are starving as a result."What we've lost here is one of the jewels in the crown of wetlandhabitats," Sarah Dawkins, who is monitoring the impact of the seawall on birds, told the BBC."The Yellow Sea is an amazingly important stopover point for birdstravelling up from places like New Zealand and Australia to theirbreeding grounds in the Arctic.""And Saemangeum was one of the most important areas in the YellowSea."Ms Dawkins said the birds relied on the tidal flats at Saemangeum assomewhere where they could land and "refuel" after a nine-day flightfrom New Zealand."It's a bit like losing a motorway service station and then your carrunning out of petrol," she explained.Despite the damage, Ms Dawkins said there was still hope for thewetlands if the two sluice gates built into the sea wall wereopened."That would restore a few thousand hectares of estuary system withinSaemangeum and that would be at least something to help the birds,"she said."The birds are still here. They're still coming.""I think we really do need to still try to save some of theirhabitat."Ms Dawkins also said it was critically important to mount a globaleffort to safeguard other estuaries around Saemangeum, one of whichthe government is planning to reclaim.