Inhabitant writes that Gansam (간삼파트너즈)
have designed a visitor’s center that works to both enhance and protect the wetland that it is built on. It’s no easy feat, but the architects have succeeded in creating a minimally invasive project that goes with the ebb and flow of the tides.
I've visited Suncheon Bay a couple times---I lived in Suncheon for two years---and rank it among my favorite places in the country. Suncheon calls itself Korea's Ecological Capital (대한민국 생태수도), has been big on "green" stuff like bicycle trails and solar-powered bus stops for the past year, and has been promoting the bay as a place for "eco-tourism." Last summer it was awarded the 2013 International Garden Expo (2013년국제정원박람회), which will run from April 20th through October 20th. When you visit the expo's site you'll see a Flash animation showing the development planned for the area, which looks to come at the expense of nearby farm land.
I also did a fluff piece for the Korea Times in 2008 on the bay and its annual reeds festival, and in the accompanying blog post I questioned whether, as the official website says and as Inhabitat repeats, Suncheon Bay is actually the fifth-largest wetlands in the world. Basic googling doesn't even bring up Korea, and the statistics on the list compiled by the Ramsar Convention show Suncheon Bay isn't even the largest wetlands in South Korea.
4 comments:
I really enjoyed suncheon bay when I went there with Girlfriendoseyo, after having lunch with you. I hope the visitor's center doesn't start to block the lovely landscape, is all.
It might be an architectural "masterpiece" but one question is if such a construction project complies with the Ramsar regulations and therefore is legally OK for this site.
But anyway it is again an example that there is a huge lack of understanding what protection of ecological zones really means and/or is - a wildlife area does not need such a massive structure made for people placed into a site.
Same misinformation/green wash you can read on the official websites for the 4 Rivers project.
There is a reason why ROK dropped 54 places in the biannual 2010 Environmental Performance Index http://epi.yale.edu/ in the last two years.
And then you read that the president is talking to world leaders about green growth - LOL.
Sorry Brian, this looks only good on the surface but is not good for a Ramsar site.
Anonymous, thanks for that.
It does look good, but I guess we do need to ask whether it fits the site. In the past I've noted the irony of hosting the Ramsar Convention (in Changwon in 2008) and talking big about conservation while turning a huge wetlands into a development project.
It is very good when many people talk about these issues; as we are working on and talking about it for years (http://www.birdskorea.org/Habitats/Wetlands/Saemangeum/BK-HA-Saemangeum.shtml)
Just a few days ago the final plan for the Saemangeum development was released (Venice of Asia) - was also in the Korean Herald.
The sad thing is that regardless where you go and look - construction projects are concreting all the ecological assets that country has.
I wonder when they will understand that it's not green growth if you just put green paint on to your concrete.
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