{UAH} Why North Korea is a safe haven for birds
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Fascinating programme shown on BBC last night. I plan to go to North
Korea in October to watch these migrating birds.
Bobby
Why North Korea is a safe haven for birds
20 June 2016×
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36533469
Why North Korea is a safe haven for birds
BBC News - 2 days agoPhotos from inside North Korea reveal how the
ecology of the secretive Asian
country is preventing the extinction of several once plentiful ...
Photos from inside North Korea reveal how the ecology of the secretive
Asian country is preventing the extinction of several once plentiful
species of migratory birds.
Despite being closed to most foreigner visitors, North Korea may
ironically be the saviour of one of the world's greatest international
migration routes - the avian East Asian Australasian Flyway.
Fifty million birds, from cranes to song birds, journey along the
Flyway twice a year. Eight million of those are shorebirds - or
waders.
And for many thousands of those, North Korea's west coast - on the
Yellow Sea - is their sole stop-off point.
Image copyright Adrian Riegen In tidal mudflats, species such as the
bar-tailed godwit - the larger birds in the photo above - refuel on
worms and molluscs.
And the endangered great knots - spotted below - search for small clams.
These photos were taken by a group of New Zealand birders with
permission from North Korea's security-conscious government.
With their binoculars, powerful telescopes and cameras, they counted
the birds as they stopped off on their epic journeys from the southern
hemisphere to the top of the northern hemisphere.
The Kiwi birders belong to a conservation NGO in New Zealand - the
Pukorokoro Miranda Naturalists' Trust.
"As we lose habitat elsewhere, the birds are going to get more and
more pushed into remaining habitat, which by default means North
Korea," says the group's David Melville - pictured below on the left.
North Korea's coast is considered so important because the shorelines
of neighbouring nations - China and South Korea - have witnessed rapid
and large-scale reclamation projects.
Mudflats have been converted to dry land for agriculture and
industrial development.
Of the total area of Yellow Sea mudflat habitat which existed 50 years
ago, only one third remains - according to shorebird ecology expert
Richard Fuller of the University of Queensland, Australia.
He also says that the Flyway's largest shorebird, the Far Eastern
curlew - spotted below - has declined in number by more than 80% in 50
years.
The Kiwi birders spent 10 days in Mundok county, on North Korea's west coast.
They visited not only tidal mudflats where the birds feed - but also
salt works and rice paddies, where the creatures rest and roost.
"The security forces needed to be informed that foreigners were
coming to look at birds," says Melville.
"But we were able to show local people shorebirds through our
telescopes. We even found birds which had flown from New Zealand which
I had personally banded."
North Korea's lack of development - compared to China and South
Korea - means the country's mudflats are largely intact.
But the conservationists say the birds also benefit from there being
fewer river-polluting factories, and lower levels of agricultural
fertilisers and pesticides running off the land into the marine
environment.
The expansive mudflats - pictured next - are rich in molluscs, marine
worms and crustaceans on which the shorebirds depend for food.
During the trip, the New Zealand birders say they identified several
new sites of international importance for the bar-tailed godwit, the
Eurasian curlew, and the critically endangered Eastern curlew.
The shorebirds spend about one month in the spring - and about three
months in the autumn - gorging on invertebrates hidden in the mud.
But one subspecies of the bar-tailed godwit is exceptional - as it
only stops in North Korea and elsewhere around the Yellow Sea on its
way north.
In the autumn, it completes an eight- or nine-day journey of almost
12,000km in one go. No other bird in the world makes such an epic
non-stop flight.
Listen to Discovery: Life on the East Asian Flyway on BBC World
Service on Mon 20 Jun 2016 at 22:32 BST or listen again on iPlayer
--
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Korea in October to watch these migrating birds.
Bobby
Why North Korea is a safe haven for birds
20 June 2016×
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36533469
Why North Korea is a safe haven for birds
BBC News - 2 days agoPhotos from inside North Korea reveal how the
ecology of the secretive Asian
country is preventing the extinction of several once plentiful ...
Photos from inside North Korea reveal how the ecology of the secretive
Asian country is preventing the extinction of several once plentiful
species of migratory birds.
Despite being closed to most foreigner visitors, North Korea may
ironically be the saviour of one of the world's greatest international
migration routes - the avian East Asian Australasian Flyway.
Fifty million birds, from cranes to song birds, journey along the
Flyway twice a year. Eight million of those are shorebirds - or
waders.
And for many thousands of those, North Korea's west coast - on the
Yellow Sea - is their sole stop-off point.
Image copyright Adrian Riegen In tidal mudflats, species such as the
bar-tailed godwit - the larger birds in the photo above - refuel on
worms and molluscs.
And the endangered great knots - spotted below - search for small clams.
These photos were taken by a group of New Zealand birders with
permission from North Korea's security-conscious government.
With their binoculars, powerful telescopes and cameras, they counted
the birds as they stopped off on their epic journeys from the southern
hemisphere to the top of the northern hemisphere.
The Kiwi birders belong to a conservation NGO in New Zealand - the
Pukorokoro Miranda Naturalists' Trust.
"As we lose habitat elsewhere, the birds are going to get more and
more pushed into remaining habitat, which by default means North
Korea," says the group's David Melville - pictured below on the left.
North Korea's coast is considered so important because the shorelines
of neighbouring nations - China and South Korea - have witnessed rapid
and large-scale reclamation projects.
Mudflats have been converted to dry land for agriculture and
industrial development.
Of the total area of Yellow Sea mudflat habitat which existed 50 years
ago, only one third remains - according to shorebird ecology expert
Richard Fuller of the University of Queensland, Australia.
He also says that the Flyway's largest shorebird, the Far Eastern
curlew - spotted below - has declined in number by more than 80% in 50
years.
The Kiwi birders spent 10 days in Mundok county, on North Korea's west coast.
They visited not only tidal mudflats where the birds feed - but also
salt works and rice paddies, where the creatures rest and roost.
"The security forces needed to be informed that foreigners were
coming to look at birds," says Melville.
"But we were able to show local people shorebirds through our
telescopes. We even found birds which had flown from New Zealand which
I had personally banded."
North Korea's lack of development - compared to China and South
Korea - means the country's mudflats are largely intact.
But the conservationists say the birds also benefit from there being
fewer river-polluting factories, and lower levels of agricultural
fertilisers and pesticides running off the land into the marine
environment.
The expansive mudflats - pictured next - are rich in molluscs, marine
worms and crustaceans on which the shorebirds depend for food.
During the trip, the New Zealand birders say they identified several
new sites of international importance for the bar-tailed godwit, the
Eurasian curlew, and the critically endangered Eastern curlew.
The shorebirds spend about one month in the spring - and about three
months in the autumn - gorging on invertebrates hidden in the mud.
But one subspecies of the bar-tailed godwit is exceptional - as it
only stops in North Korea and elsewhere around the Yellow Sea on its
way north.
In the autumn, it completes an eight- or nine-day journey of almost
12,000km in one go. No other bird in the world makes such an epic
non-stop flight.
Listen to Discovery: Life on the East Asian Flyway on BBC World
Service on Mon 20 Jun 2016 at 22:32 BST or listen again on iPlayer
--
Disclaimer:Everyone posting to this Forum bears the sole responsibility for any legal consequences of his or her postings, and hence statements and facts must be presented responsibly. Your continued membership signifies that you agree to this disclaimer and pledge to abide by our Rules and Guidelines.To unsubscribe from this group, send email to: ugandans-at-heart+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
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