Seocheon is a coastal city located in South ChungCheong Province, Republic of Korea. Tidal Flat with Yubu Island and nearby mudflats is one of the major wintering sites for migratory birds such as Far Eastern curlew, Spoon-billed sandpiper and Great knot. It is the only mudflat left after the reclamation of the estuary of Geum River, one of major four rivers in Korea. It has been designated as national wetland protected area in 2008 and Ramsar site in 2010 and as UNESCO’s World Natural Heritage sites in 2021.

Seocheon County enacted ‘the Ordinance on the Formation and Operation of the Seocheon County Wetlands Protection Committee’ in 2010 and operates an autonomous wetland management system based on the participation of local communities. Under this management system, a local management committee was formed consisting of various wetland stakeholders, which include local residents, government officials and civil society groups.

The public-private governance body reviews and deliberates issues related to the systematic conservation and wise use of the Seocheon Tidal Flat. In addition, the Wetlands Protection Committee operates various support systems and creative programs to help the Seocheon Tidal Flat play a positive role in enhancing the competence and expertise of local communities.

With a view to promoting biodiversity, Seocheon County pursued a project to restore tidal flats and to maintain the healthy state of the Seocheon Tidal Flat. This project aimed to convert abandoned salt farms into tidal flats by promoting sea water circulation and creating natural waterways. The project area, tidal flats of Yubu-do, lies along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF), which is a very important stop-over site of shorebirds. The project was completed in 2021, and the restored tidal flats now play the important role and function as feeding site and habitat for seabirds. In addition, after the completion of the tidal flat restoration project, monitoring has been regularly conducted to verify the effectiveness of the restoration project.

Seocheon County also developed ‘the Conservation Plan for Seocheon Tidal Flat Management’ in accordance with ‘the Wetland Conservation Act’ to raise the awareness of local residents on conservation values of wetlands and the necessity of tidal flat restoration, and to encourage them to participate in continuing wetland restoration work.

The Bird Ecology and Exhibition Center and the Seocheon Tidal Flat Wetland Protection Center, established for conservation and use of natural environment, work as the training place to conserve and experience natural environment at the mouth of the Geumgang River, the largest stop-by area of migratory birds in the Republic of Korea. At the center, Seocheon County has been implementing the “Seocheon Migratory Bird Travel” program every year since 2010, with local NGOs, local residents and experts. Main Programs are as follows: ceremony, exhibition and experience programs, operation of exhibition hall, bird-watching tour, spray of rice seeds to farming lands, clean-up volunteers of the Yubu-do, among others.