Creating Regional '5 Major Ecological Axes' for Integrated Management of Marine Biodiversity, Spawning Grounds, and Habitats

Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries Establishes and Announces 'Marine Ecological Axis Construction Plan'

Five Major Marine Ecological Axes by Sea Area.

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The government has decided to establish the 'Five Core Marine Ecological Corridors' considering marine ecological elements and values, the impact of human activities, and climate change, and to promote integrated management based on this.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced the 'Plan for Establishing Marine Ecological Corridors' containing these details on the 3rd.

Marine ecological corridors are structures that connect major habitats and spawning grounds of marine organisms, migration routes, tidal flats, coastal areas, islands, and underwater marine ecosystems, which are ecologically linked in structure and function, without damaging or severing them. Until now, marine ecosystem-related policies have been centered on protecting individual habitats or species, but there have been limitations in comprehensively understanding the overall structure, function, and connectivity of marine ecosystems and managing and conserving them systematically and integratively.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries established and has been implementing the 'Roadmap for Setting and Managing Marine Ecological Corridors (2019?2023)' since July last year. This time, detailed guidelines for setting and managing marine ecological corridors have been prepared as part of the plan. The goal of this plan is to maintain marine biodiversity, conserve migration routes and habitats of key marine species, strengthen responses to climate change, and manage and conserve marine ecosystems systematically and integratively.

Through this plan, the government first set the basic scope of marine ecological corridors as the 'territorial sea' and established the 'Five Core Marine Ecological Corridors' based on scientific surveys and analyses, considering marine ecological elements and values, the impact of human activities, and climate change.

In the West Sea, the 'West Coast Coastal Wetland Conservation Corridor,' which connects tidal flat ecosystems, and the 'Seal-Dall's Porpoise Conservation Corridor,' a migratory route for marine protected species, are established. In the South Sea, the 'Island Marine Ecological Conservation Corridor,' which provides spawning and habitats for various marine organisms, is set, and in the East Sea, the 'East Coast Marine Ecological Conservation Corridor,' influenced seasonally by cold currents, is established. In both the South Sea and East Sea, the 'Climate Change Observation Corridor' is set to observe, diagnose, and respond to the subtropicalization of Korean waters due to global warming.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries plans to set specific boundaries and management objectives for the five marine ecological corridors by the end of this year to ensure systematic management, and by 2021, establish corridor-specific management plans considering the characteristics and spatial scope of the marine ecological corridors.

Additionally, the national comprehensive marine ecosystem survey system, which forms the foundation for marine ecosystem conservation and management, will be reorganized. From 2022, indicators capable of evaluating biodiversity and health of the marine ecological corridors as well as the connectivity of the structure and function of marine ecosystems will be developed to continuously monitor and assess the status and changes of marine ecosystems by corridor. Restoration plans will be prepared and implemented for damaged or severed marine ecosystems.

Along with this, to secure the execution power of setting and managing marine ecological corridors, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries plans to amend the 'Marine Ecosystem Conservation and Management Act' by the end of this year to clarify the definition of marine ecological corridors and stipulate the basis for establishing and managing marine ecological corridor plans, responsible entities, and procedures.

Song Myung-dal, Director of Marine Environment Policy at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, said, "Due to recent marine development and climate change, the decline of species and destruction of ecosystems are accelerating, and the world is forming a consensus on the need to conserve biodiversity and striving for it." He added, "The establishment of marine ecological corridors is expected to be an opportunity for Korea to lead investigations, research, and policies for maintaining marine biodiversity and conserving and managing key marine species' habitats."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.