|
Article Excerpt
Since 1953 the DMZ has been part of a geopolitical vacuum and symbol of war, tension, and separation. During this period nature there has regenerated. The DMZ and contiguous Civilian Control Zone in South Korea contain five rivers and numerous ecosystems along with thousands of plant, mammal, fish and bird species, many of which are globally endangered. It provides a unique link to the entire East Asia flyway system for migratory birds from Russia down to Australia.
Safeguarding the DMZ as a transboundary nature and peace park can provide significant ecosystem service benefits.
It can symbolize peace and cooperation, be an opportunity to maintain habitats and reintroduce species largely extirpated from Korea and be a rare chance to study what happens when an area like this is left untouched for over fifty years.
INTRODUCTION
With the idea of dividing Korea into spheres of influence in 1896, Japan and Russia conducted negotiations that almost resulted in the partition of Korea along a mid-peninsula boundary line, though not at the thirty-eighth parallel, where the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is now nominally situated. (1) That division was not to take place for more than fifty years, and then as a consequence of World War II and the Korean War. Thus, the DMZ became a symbol of the US's Cold War containment policy. Now it is a stark remnant of that standoff but at the same time a reminder of nature's tremendous resilience and of the hope which that affords us.
Since the end of the Korean War in 1953, the DMZ has been essentially off limits to all but a few residents living in two showcase villages, one in North Korea and one in South Korea in the heart of the DMZ near Panmunjom. It has been part of a geopolitical vacuum and memory of war. It and the Civilian Control Zone (CCZ) on the south side also have been home to at least one million land mines, reinforcing the DMZ's barbed wire perimeter extending along much of its length. But, within the forbidden zone, nature has staged a renaissance during the last fifty plus years. The natural and cultural resources contained in the DMZ and CCZ represent millions of years of evolution, some of its species being found nowhere else in the world, and thousands of years of human history, at least 5,000 of which have been home to a people identified as distinctly Korean. The two zones offer us an urgent and unique opportunity for dialogue between the Koreas and other region stakeholders that can assist in creating peace on the peninsula. Properly managed for sustainability, these same resources also can garner billions of dollars for both Koreas and one day for a reunited peninsula. This paper will address (1) the importance of the DMZ from multiple perspectives; (2) threats to preserving it; (3) current initiatives to preserve it; and (4) recommended steps to conserve its resources.
IMPORTANCE AND VALUE OF THE DMZ
The DMZ is four by 250 kilometers (2.4 by 150 miles). It and the contiguous Civilian Control Zone in the Republic of Korea (ROK)/South Korea, which is five to twenty kilometers (three to twelve miles) across the peninsula, contain rivers and many ecosystem types, supporting thousands of species. In the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)/North Korea there is reported to be a similar zone adjoining the DMZ.
2.1. Biological Resources
There are reported to be as many as 3,514 species in the DMZ and CCZ. By one count, the species there represent 67 percent of all those found in Korea; (2) and the DMZ is the only place where many of them still reside, having been extirpated from the rest of the peninsula due to development and industrialization in the south and deforestation in the north. From 1995 to the present, field and literature surveys have been conducted to assess biological resources of the area, which detail a wide range in the numbers of species: from 256 to 1,597 plants, 4 to 66 mammals, 143 to 939 animals other than mammals, 49 to 233 birds, 6 to 46 amphibians and reptiles, 13 to 98 freshwater fish and 50 to 535 insects. (3) The estimates emphatically portray the vast richness of the area. They also are symptomatic of the lack of direct access to the DMZ itself. Until now, data has been collected mainly from observations inside the Civilian Control Zone, without ability to enter the DMZ.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Mammals
Many charismatic mammal species, including Asiatic Black Bear, Musk deer, spotted seal, leopard and lynx inhabit and depend on the DMZ and CCZ. The Cultural Heritage Administration of South Korea has designated several DMZ species as "natural monuments," including:
* Korea-Okhotsk Gray Whale, in waters off of the DMZ
* Otter, re-introduced just south of DMZ in Hwacheon County
* Chinese Water Deer
* Leopard Cat
* Amur Coral, a rare type of goat
* Korean Yellow-necked Marten
Reportedly, twenty years ago there were even tigers in the mountains around Seoul, the capitol of South Korea, and there has been anecdotal evidence of tigers in the DMZ, CCZ area since that time. However, to-date, no scientifically-based studies have been conducted to verify their presence.
Birds
The DMZ forms a vital link between ecosystems throughout Northeast Asia. Hundreds of bird species migrate twice a year through the DMZ going to and from Mongolia, China, Russia, Vietnam, Japan, the Philippines and Australia, essentially from the top to the bottom of the globe! If this green belt were destroyed, what would happen to this globe-spanning chain? Species include many that, according to IUCN (World Conservation Union), are endangered; these include the Black-faced Spoonbill, of which a majority of the total estimated world population of 1,679 (4) breed on the western coastal islands off the DMZ. Of the world's estimated 2,500 Red-crowned and 5,000 White-napped Cranes, about 25 percent and 50 percent respectively spend their winters in the DMZ. (5) Two former DMZ inhabitants, the Oriental White Stork and Crested Ibis, are potential candidates to re-introduce to the area.
Spending part of their life cycle here are other species, many of which also are already endangered.
* Black Vulture
* Great Bustard
* Stellar's Sea Eagle
* Whooper Swan
* White-tailed Sea Eagle
*...
|
