Shinan-gun Hosts Nation's First Shrimp Egg Festival

In April Next Year, Korea's First Native Plant Saewooran Festival to Be Held Nationwide

[Sinan=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Jae-kyung] Sinan-gun, Jeollanam-do, will hold the nation's first native shrimp orchid festival in April next year at the 1004 Museum Park area in Jaeun-myeon.

Sinan-gun, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, is the largest native orchid habitat in Korea, with 9 of the 22 endangered orchid species in the country naturally growing there.

There are currently six known native shrimp orchid species in Korea: Saewoonan, Geumsaewoonan, Hallasaewoonan, Yeoreumsaewoonan, Sinansaewoonan, and Dado Saewoonan. Among these, Sinansaewoonan and Dado Saewoonan were first discovered on Heuksando Island in Sinan-gun and were registered as varieties with the International Association for Plant Taxonomy in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Notably, Sinansaewoonan was newly designated as a Class II endangered wild species in 2017.

As a treasure trove of native orchids in Korea, Sinan-gun has been promoting restoration projects for native orchids such as Pungnan and Seokgok since 2019 in the Bonsai Park area of Aphae-eup, starting with exhibitions of shrimp orchids and spring orchids annually since 2013 and the forest at Daegwang Beach in Imja-myeon in 2014.

The Sinan Shrimp Orchid Festival plans to expand the naturally formed shrimp orchid colonies and operate indoor and outdoor spaces for shrimp orchid exhibitions and sales markets.

Additionally, the festival will invite shrimp orchid enthusiasts nationwide to hold a national shrimp orchid competition and host an academic conference on the conservation and future value of native plants.

Next spring, visitors to Sinan will be able to experience the bright and subtle charm of the shrimp orchid.

Park Woo-ryang, the mayor of Sinan-gun, said, “This will be an opportunity for the entire nation to appreciate the charm of shrimp orchids, which have only been cultivated for ornamental purposes by some enthusiasts. Sinan-gun will take the lead in raising awareness of the importance of seed sovereignty for future generations through conservation and restoration projects of our disappearing resources, not limited to simple exhibition promotion.”

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