BNK Kyongnam Bank Conducts 'Bongam Mudflat Salicornia Habitat Restoration Volunteer Activity'

Around 50 Volunteers Plant Salicornia Seedlings and Seeds
in Areas Surrounding Last Year’s Planting Site

BNK Kyongnam Bank will once again plant and restore Salicornia, a halophyte known for its excellence in preserving biodiversity and reducing carbon through the blue carbon ecosystem, at Bongam Mudflat this year, following last year’s efforts.

Volunteers from Gyeongnam Bank engaging in volunteer activities at Bongam Mudflat.

On April 6, BNK Kyongnam Bank announced that it had carried out the “Bongam Mudflat Salicornia Habitat Restoration Volunteer Activity,” a two-year pilot project, as part of its ESG social contribution initiatives.

The volunteer activity, which took place at the Bongam Mudflat Ecological Learning Center in Changwon, included BNK Kyongnam Bank Executive Director Kim Kibum, around 50 employees, as well as officials from the Changwon City Fisheries Division, Masan Regional Office of Oceans and Fisheries, and the Changwon Sustainable Development Council.

The volunteers, divided into two teams, entered the artificial island in the Bongam Mudflat during low tide and planted Salicornia seedlings and seeds around the area where Salicornia had been planted the previous year.

Notably, they planted 2,000 Salicornia seedlings—an increase of 800 more than last year—and sowed 1 kilogram of seeds.

Lee Myunghoon, Head of the Social Contribution and Public Relations Department, stated, “After planting Salicornia last year, we monitored the site for several months and confirmed that more than 90% of the seedlings successfully took root and produced seeds. This year, we are carrying out the ‘two-year pilot project for Salicornia habitat restoration’ during the prime planting season in March and April.”

He added, “BNK Kyongnam Bank is working to help Salicornia naturally reestablish itself in Bongam Mudflat, which is the smallest designated coastal wetland protected area in Korea. We will continue to focus on social contribution projects so that Bongam Mudflat, once a prime example of marine environmental pollution, can be reborn as a marine ecosystem that contributes to climate change mitigation and the preservation of biodiversity.”

The Salicornia that BNK Kyongnam Bank aims to restore through this project is a representative blue carbon halophyte of Korea’s coastal areas, along with eelgrass and reeds.

In particular, Salicornia is effective in increasing the carbon storage and absorption capacity of mudflats, and habitat creation or restoration projects are actively underway through transplantation along the west coast (such as Incheon and Pyeongtaek) and the southern coast in the Jeolla region (including Yeosu, Suncheon, and Buan).

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