Mungyeong City Doline Wetland Selected as Final Candidate for 'Ramsar Wetland City'

Confirmed for 2025: Ramsar Trademark Utilization

Supports Agricultural Product Sales and Tourist Attraction

In February, the Ministry of Environment announced the final candidates for the 3rd Ramsar Wetland City domestic selection, with ‘Mungyeong City Dolline Wetland’ and ‘Hwapocheon Wetland in Gimhae, Gyeongnam’ being selected as the final candidates.

A Ramsar Wetland City refers to a city or town located near Ramsar wetlands or other wetland conservation areas, where the local community participates and acts as a model in wetland conservation and wise use. It is a city certified by the Ramsar Convention, the global wetland treaty organization.

Mungyeong Dolline Wetland.

Mungyeong City submitted its application for Ramsar Wetland City candidacy to the Ministry of Environment in March this year. In July, the Ministry of Environment, the National Wetland Center, and external evaluators conducted three rounds of evaluations including document review, on-site inspection, and presentation assessment to verify whether the city met the Ramsar Wetland City certification criteria.

As a result of the final deliberation and resolution by the National Wetland Deliberation Committee, the Ministry of Environment selected Mungyeong Dolline Wetland as the final candidate site.

The Ministry of Environment plans to submit the certification application to the Ramsar Secretariat’s Independent Advisory Committee within this year, and the city is expected to receive final international certification as a Ramsar Wetland City at the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Ramsar Convention, to be held in Zimbabwe, Africa, in 2025.

Once certified as a Ramsar Wetland City, the city can use the Ramsar Wetland City brand for promoting local agricultural and fishery products and other goods, as well as for ecological tourism activation programs. Additionally, it will receive national funding support necessary for wetland conservation and management, awareness enhancement, and expansion of ecological tourism infrastructure.

A Mungyeong City official stated, “It is expected that the market for agricultural products such as omija berries and apples harvested in Sanbuk-myeon and Hogye-myeon, where the Dolline Wetland is located, will expand, and tourist visits will continue.”

In South Korea, there are currently seven Ramsar Wetland Cities: four cities certified in the first round in 2018 (Upo Wetland in Changnyeong-gun, Yong Wetland in Inje-gun, Dongbaekdongsan Wetland in Jeju-si, and Suncheonman in Suncheon-si) and three cities certified in the second round in 2022 (Mulyoungari Oreum in Seogwipo-si, Ungok Wetland and Gochang Tidal Flat in Gochang-gun, and Seocheon Tidal Flat in Seocheon-gun).

Shin Hyun-guk, Mayor of Mungyeong City, said, “We thank the local residents who worked hard for the selection of the final candidate for the Ramsar Wetland City, and we will do our best together with the local residents until the final Ramsar Wetland certification to ensure that Mungyeong City (Dolline Wetland) is recognized as an international city.”

Mungyeong Dolline Wetland is a 495,000㎡ karst terrain located at the summit of Gulbongsan, a limestone mountain in Sanbuk-myeon, Mungyeong City. This wetland was formed in an area where water drains well and wetlands are difficult to form, making it a very rare case globally. It is home to 731 species of wild flora and fauna, including rare and endangered species, and was designated as South Korea’s 23rd national wetland protection area in June 2017.

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