Our campaign partners in South Korea have created an excellent website to continue our campaign to restore the Saemangeum wetlands. Please go to http://www.restoresaemangeum.com/ to send email messages to the South Korean ambassador of your country, or to the president.
On March 15, the United Nations General Assembly voted 170–4 to create a new Human Rights Council, effectively dissolving the oft-criticized Commission on Human Rights. Candidates for the Council will need to be elected by an absolute majority of 96 votes in order to secure a position, and once elected members can serve a maximum of two consecutive terms.
We received sad news from South Korea this week. The Supreme Court ruled that the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry may complete construction of a sea wall that will destroy the Saemangeum tidal flats – one of Korea’s most valuable wetlands and habitat for migratory birds.
For the past three years we have been supporting the efforts of environmental organizations in South Korea to stop a project that would destroy the country’s most important wetland ecosystem, also a critical stopover for migratory birds.
The campaign has reached a critical moment as the Supreme Court begins hearings on the issue.
The following update comes from CS campaign partner Ma Yong-Un, regarding two prominent activists for protection of the Saemangeum wetlands, Father Moon Kyuhyun and Reverand Sukyung:
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Father Moon Kyuhyun
Father Moon has continued his efforts to conserve the Saemanguem tidal flat and has been working to establish a wetland education center at the Saemangeum tidal-flat in Buan to promote public awareness on conservation of the wetland. He keeps trying to persuade people to reconsider the destructive project whenever he has a chance.
Environmental organizations in South Korea invite us to celebrate a victory in their long struggle to protect the Saemangeum tidal flats, which provide critical feeding habitat for migratory birds. Korea’s government is building a 33-kilometer sea wall that would destroy this biologically rich ecosystem.
This week a court ordered the construction to stop while further environmental studies are conducted.
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we are headquartered on Massachusett land, in Cambridge, MA, and we thank the past, current, and future Indigenous stewards of this territory.
