The tidal flats of South Korea were inscribed onto the UNESCO list of natural world heritage. After the World Heritage Committee first turned down the government application for inscription, the government successfully strengthened its argument by promoting the fact that the mudflats were major habitats for migratory birds. The 21 countries on the UNESCO World Heritage Committee unanimously decided to inscribe the getbol, Korean tidal flats as a World Heritage in its 44th session, held in Fuzhou, China on July 26.

The Korean getbol is the second natural world heritage to be inscribed following the volcanic island of Jeju and its lava tubes (inscribed in 2007). South Korea now has fifteen sites inscribed onto the World Heritage list including cultural heritage.

This day, the World Heritage Committee recognized the tidal flats in Korea as one of the most important and significant habitats worldwide in preserving biodiversity on Earth and recognized the getbol’s “outstanding universal value” as a stopover for endangered migratory birds.

The South Korean government applied to have the getbols in Seocheon (Seocheon-gun, Chungcheongnam-do), Gochang (Gochang-gun, Jeollabuk-do), Sinan (Sinan-gun, Jeollanam-do), and Boseong and Suncheon (Boseong-gun and Suncheon-si, Jeollanam-do) inscribed as a World Heritage in 2019. They are all designated as wetland protection areas. The government argued that the coastal wetlands had outstanding universal value for the diversity of species; as a major habitat of the spoon-billed sandpiper, an endangered species; and for the stable preservation of the thickest layer of mud sediments in the world.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) conducted a site inspection and panel discussion in 2020 and last May deferred its evaluation of the getbol. At the time, the IUCN acknowledged that the getbol could be identified as the most important and significant natural habitat for the preservation of biodiversity, one of the criteria for inscription, for the getbol sustained 47 endemic species and 5 endangered marine invertebrates and provided a habitat for 2,150 species of plants and animals. But at the same time, the IUCN deferred its recommendation claiming that other than the Sinan getbol, the areas designated were not sufficient to represent the massive geographical and ecological process.

The government refused to withdraw its application for inscription. Instead, the government prepared additional documents after seeking the advice of domestic and international experts on World Heritage. The IUCN’s evaluation is released in four levels: inscribe, refer, defer, and not to inscribe. The inscription of applications that receive an evaluation other than inscribe are determined by the World Heritage Committee.

Doug Watkins, chief executive of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership Secretariat said, “Being a World Heritage Site means that these important wetland habitats will receive the highest level of protection,” and further explained, “Millions of migratory waterbirds, shared by the 22 countries of our flyway will benefit, including globally threatened species, such as the spoon-billed sandpiper, far eastern curlew, and hooded crane,” according to the Cultural Heritage Administration. Watkins also expected the inscription to provide an important step for international cooperation among countries in the Yellow Sea region--South Korea, China and North Korea.

The World Heritage Committee recommended that the government designate additional areas to expand the heritage site, prepare an integrated management system and manage any development that can have a negative impact on preserving the heritage site for consideration at the 48th session of the committee in 2025. The committee also called for stronger cooperation with countries in the East Asia-Australasian flyway and with the migratory bird sanctuaries along the coast of Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf of China (inscribed as a World Heritage in 2019) to protect endangered migratory birds.