Workshop
Scaly-Sided Merganser- Workshop in Suncheon

Birds are good bio-indicators, i.e., where birds thrive, the environment is healthy. While few people would debate this, nevertheless very often landscape “improvement” or “development” projects disregard it. In Korea, where due to dense population development pressure is particularly high, which affects others river habitats. A good example here it the fate of the Scaly-sided Merganser (Mergus squamatus). This iconic bird (not to be confused with the much more frequent Common Merganser) is a bird of Northeast Asia: it breeds in Northern China, Russia, and maybe North Korea, and it winters in South Korea and China. Only an estimated 3.000-4.000 Scaly-Sided Mergansers still survive in the wild. They need clean and pristine river habitats and are very sensitive to human disturbance. In their breeding habitat, they are depending on riparian forests with large enough trees to breed in.

In South Korea, the loss of suitable river habitats is of great concern. One place, where they still can be found, is the inner-Korean border area, for example, Imjin river, the border river of North and South Korea. Hanns-Seidel-Foundation together with Birds Korea, the leading Korean NGO working on the conservation of bird habitats, works for many years on the sustainable development of the border area and in 2022 sponsored a nationwide survey of the Scaly-sided Merganser. In these surveys, major threats to habitat (dredging, disturbance by cycleways, wild camping, etc.) were recorded, as well as a number of other species of concern, among them cranes, long-billed plovers, mandarin ducks, Eurasian otter etc.

In November 2022, Hanns-Seidel-Foundation Korea together with Birds Korea for the time brought local researchers and activists from the country for a workshop in Suncheon, as a side event to the Asian Bird Fair Suncheon. The workshop assembled key environmental specialists from the four most important rivers carrying important numbers of Scaly-Sided Mergansers during wintering or as migratory birds, namely Imjin river, Nam river, Mangyong river, and Somjin river, as well as specialists from Birds Korea and the East Asian Australasian Flyway Partnership. Dr. Nial Moores, president of Birds Korea, introduced the national and international dimension of the preservation of Scaly-sided mergansers. He pointed out that national data is not sufficient yet – in the statistics published by the Ministry of Environment of unspecific surveys (not focusing solely on the Scaly-sided Merganser) figures vary widely.

Ku Yeonah of the East Asian Australasian Flyway Partnership introduced the regional and international aspects of the protection of the Scaly-Sided Merganser. The East Asian Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP) brings together 18 states of East Asia and the flyway (including Russia and the US, Australia and New Zealand) with 22 NGOs, among them Hanns-Seidel-Foundation Korea. There is currently a task force on the Scaly-Sided Merganser. This task force for example organized breeding surveys in Russia and the hanging of nest boxes, one of which was sponsored by members of Hanns-Seidel-Foundation Korea. In China, a larger community of environmentalists is interested in the protection of Scaly-Sided merganser. In Korea, this is still lacking.  Closer international cooperation can lead to more awareness in South Korea, too. In particular, cooperation with North Korea on migratory (and maybe, breeding) Scaly-Sided Mergansers could be of interest.

Baek Sung-Kwang of Birds Korea Yeoncheon chapter presented about the status of Scaly-Sided Mergansers as migratory and wintering birds in Imjin river in Yeoncheon. Yeoncheon in Gyeonggi-Do, directly at the inner-Korean border, is rather famous for wintering Manchurian cranes (Grus japonicus), but recently the Scaly-Sided Merganser also gained more attention, as surveys during migration confirmed the importance of the area for the rare bird. The river has long been shielded from too much human development since it was in the immediate border area, where the so-called Civilian Control Zone (CCZ) in the back of the completely inaccessible DMZ prevented much of construction and industrialization. In recent years, however, in several waves, the CCZ has been made smaller and smaller. This development – principally in the interest of people – increased dramatically conflicts of environmental protection and human activity. A wise use of wetlands, as the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, of which South Korea is part, stipulates, however, is only possible, if biological diversity is part of the equation. This principle might be disregarded by reckless development. 

Choi Sang-Du gave a short assessment of the Nam River ecology, which not only includes Scaly-Sided Mergansers but also rare turtles, frogs, and Eurasian otters among others. It is a good example, of how Scaly-Sided Mergansers are part of a larger reservoir of biodiversity, which is protected in the river. A similar situation characterizes the Seomjin River, as Lee Myeong-Jeong explained. But here, like in all other rivers, dredging, pollution, and waste pose serious problems to riverine health.