Seocheon Tidal Flat in Korea and Chongming Dongtan Nature Reserve in China have been selected by United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) as two of the eight global project sites under the “Destination Flyways” project, for development of sustainable tourism and the livelihoods of local communities to support sites to be destinations for migratory birds. Funding support for the ongoing preliminary phase is from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety of Germany. The project will focus on the protection of migratory birds and their valuable habitats and developing biodiversity-related tourism products in selected sites of migratory bird flyways. EAAFP is an Advisor to the project.
Secheon tidal flat by KHT
As population density increases, pressure may come from more people wishing to access the site for recreation, to develop for housing, building industrial infrastructure or other purposes. As tourist developments come closer to sites, there are likely to be demands from local tourism businesses to increase tourism activities at the site. Over time, such pressures may eventually lead to the degradation of the habitat’s ecological character and extinction of wildlife including migratory birds. However, integrating tourism management and wetland conservation with appropriate regulations and effective controls can provide benefits for both ecosystems and the people enjoying them.
One of the objectives of sustainable tourism in and around habitats is to generate economic benefits for local communities. As many communities have strong livelihood and cultural links to bird habitats, which have helped to protect and influence their ecological character over millennia, local communities can play an important part of the tourism experience, as well as providing accommodation, restaurants and other services. Through the development of sustainable tourism, the socio-economic situation of the local population will be improved.
Dongtan nature reserve @ cmeopark.com
Seocheon Tidal Flat and Chongming Dongtan Nature Reserve are significantly valuable sites for biodiversity, especially supporting many internationally endangered species of migratory waterbirds including Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Great Knot and Eastern Curlew along the East Asian–Australasian Flyway. Both are Flyway Network Sites. This project will create benefits for both conservation and local economies developing long-term effective tourism products in the selected sites through the involvement of many stakeholders, private sector, national decision-makers, and international organisations. For more details on the project, please read the previous article at here: http://www.eaaflyway.net/destination_flyways/ Articles and videos of the selected sites can be found at here: Seocheon Tidal Flathttp://www.eaaflyway.net/?s=seocheon, Chongming Dongtan: http://www.eaaflyway.net/?s=chongming
