Birds Korea NGO reveals impacts of climate change on birds

Nial Moores does survey work at the Hwaseong wetlands. / Courtesy of Jung Han-chul of Hwaseong KFEM

By Jon Dunbar

Nial Moores took an interest in birds and wetlands at an early age, back when he lived in Southport in the U.K., and it has stayed with him throughout his life.

"Not only are birds beautiful and important in themselves, but the diversity of species enables them to occupy almost every ecological niche on the planet," Moores, director of Birds Korea, told The Korea Times. "Most species are sensitive to changes in their environment. Bird species, therefore, have great additional value as environmental indicators, allowing people to interpret the landscape ― and the world ― in ways that might otherwise remain intangible. Changes in populations of birds, for example, often reveal changes in the health of wetlands and forests, and make visible the realities of climate change."

This black-winged kite was seen on Baengnyeong Island, the seventh recorded spotting for Korea. The species is expanding northward in China due to climate change. / Courtesy of Nial Moores

He took his interest with him when he moved to Japan in 1990, where he worked for a grassroots environmental network in Fukuoka and earned a master's degree in ecological planning. He relocated to Korea in April 1998 to work with an alliance of domestic environmental groups, conducting surveys of wetlands and birds throughout the nation. In 2004 he co-founded Birds Korea, an NGO dedicated to the conservation of birds and their habitats in Korea and the wider Yellow Sea eco-region, and he's been working for it full-time ever since.

Birds Korea started primarily in response to the vast Saemangeum land reclamation project on Korea's west coast.

"This reclamation project was about to close off two estuaries from the sea with a 33-kilometer-long seawall, destroying one of the most important wetlands for migratory birds in East Asia and causing the loss of an estimated 40,000 fishery jobs," Moores said.

He said the wetland's importance was already well-known thanks to government research, but there was no formal effort in place to monitor the impacts of seawall closure and the resultant mass die-offs of tidal flat animals, like shellfish and crabs, on migratory bird populations.

"We needed independent researchers to gather data during the reclamation process, and to share it honestly ― both domestically and internationally," Moores said. "This became Birds Korea's role."

The Far Eastern curlew is a globally endangered species. Birds Korea works through species-dedicated task forces under the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership to improve conservation opportunities for them, such as by organizing and conducting national surveys. / Courtesy of Nial Moores

From 2006 to 2008, they teamed up with experts and volunteers from the Australasian Wader Studies Group to conduct the first ever study in the Yellow Sea to measure the impacts of a tidal flat reclamation on migratory bird populations.

"Together, we documented massive declines in migratory shorebirds as a result of the Saemangeum reclamation, both locally and at the national level," said Moores, who also earned a Ph.D. in Australia in conservation of avian biodiversity. "One silver lining: this research also helped to accelerate concern for the status of the Yellow Sea tidal flats, contributing in some small way to the recent designation of some tidal flats as World Heritage Sites in PR China and here in the ROK."

Since then, Birds Korea has worked at many sites around the Korean Peninsula, including a few in the North.

"One of the most striking personal discoveries of the last decade was seeing all the differences in birdlife between the ROK and the DPRK during a dozen surveys there, even within a few kilometers of the DMZ," he said. "North of the DMZ, unlike in the ROK, we found few concentrations of geese in rice fields and few gulls along the coast, but at the same time, we saw large numbers of several small bird species which used to be common but are now rare in arable areas in the South. We also saw many more seabirds and sea mammals in coastal waters just north of the Korea inner border than during our more intensive research effort just to the south of it. These kinds of differences are without doubt in large part due to differences between land-use and fishery practices."

View over the Manpo Rason Ramsar site in North Korea, July 2016 / Courtesy of Nial Moores

Moores and some of the 300 or so other Birds Korea members have had opportunities to see and connect with some of the most beautiful and diverse places on the peninsula ― such as Saemangeum, Baengnyeong Island, the Gangwon coast and parts of Jeju Island.

In the past 12 months alone, Birds Korea has conducted research on migratory birds and potential bird strikes on Busan's Gadeok Island, a proposed site for a new airport; supported Hwaseong City in Gyeonggi Province to conserve the Hwaseong Wetlands; helped map biodiversity within the Yeoncheon Imjin River Biosphere Reserve; and provided technical advice on the expected impact of a road-widening project on Jeju's Bijarim-ro. It has also led research at the national level on two globally endangered bird species, as well as supported efforts to designate more tidal flats as World Heritage sites.

"There is always so much to learn, even now," Moores said.

The Nakdong Estuary is seen at low tide. There are plans to build a new airport toward the top left of this wetland protected area, and a major highway across the estuary. / Courtesy of Nial Moores

It all sounds exciting, but he says his experiences have also been incredibly emotionally draining.

"Almost all of these amazing places have been degraded or even destroyed in recent years," Moores said. "So many tidal flats, on islands and along the coast, have been destroyed in the last two decades; so many reedbeds and wetlands have been filled in or lined with concrete; so many forests have been cut down or cut through with new roads."

He points to some conservation successes, but also adds that many bird species that were still common two decades ago have now become rare.

"Of course, we can all see this kind of habitat degradation happening with our own eyes if we choose to look," he said. "But unnecessary construction projects still get given the go-ahead, even though they will inevitably contribute to a further loss of biodiversity and an increase in greenhouse gas emissions: more river dredging, more road and airport construction, more reclamation, more industrialization of fishing and farming."

But Moores stresses that Birds Korea is not strictly anti-development, and in fact is what he calls "pro-genuinely sustainable development."

"Birds Korea follows the science. We use guidance provided by international conventions and agreements to inform the advice and proposals we make," he said. "It is easy to feel anger because the impacts of climate change and the biodiversity crisis are already here, and are set to worsen rapidly. But anger seldom helps in the search for solutions," in Moores' view.

He says Birds Korea's approach is to identify key information gaps.

"We go to the site and gather the necessary data; we present our analysis honestly and openly; we suggest proposals that can mitigate some of the problems and we also help to explain the very many and very real benefits of conservation," he said. "We have found that this approach works, increasingly so in the last five years."

The spoon-billed sandpiper, which soon became critically endangered following the destruction of tidal flats at Saemangeum. Only about 400 to 800 are left. / Courtesy of Nial Moores

Birds Korea's 300 or so members are mostly people of Korean nationality, with 10 percent to 20 percent of members coming from overseas.

"Of course, we are always looking for more people of good mind to join us," he said. "We need more people to help us with research, with translation, with technical issues, with information on laws and by-laws, with fund-raising and with helping organize events for members."

Visit birdskorea.org or birdskoreablog.org for more information or to contact the organization.