Hwaseong Baekmiri Mudflat Selected for 'Blue Carbon-Based Green Living' Pilot Project

The carbon-neutral eco-friendly ecosystem creation project will be actively promoted in the Baekmiri mudflat of Seosin-myeon, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do.

Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do announced on the 19th that the Baekmiri mudflat in Seosin-myeon has been selected as the pilot project site for the 'Blue Carbon-based Green Living' project led by the Blue Carbon Project Group of Seoul National University.

Location map of the 'Blue Carbon-Based Green Living Pilot Project Site' at Baekmiri Mudflat, Hwaseong City. [Image source=Hwaseong City]

원본보기 아이콘

'Blue Carbon' refers to the carbon absorbed and stored by marine ecosystems through coastal plants and sediments. Although the total amount of carbon absorbed is similar to that of 'Green Carbon' absorbed by terrestrial forests, it is known to absorb carbon at a much faster rate.

This project is part of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries' 'Blue Carbon-based Climate Change Adaptive Coastal Development Technology' project, which will be carried out until 2026. It is a pilot project to establish a testbed for planting halophytes (Green Living) to develop carbon-absorbing coastal and climate crisis response coastal development technologies.

The Baekmiri mudflat was finally selected as a Green Living coastal development area that expands carbon sinks of marine ecosystems and prevents soil erosion after candidate site exploration and on-site surveys by the research group in December last year.

A total of 1,000㎡ of test construction will be carried out on the mudflat, including a 300㎡ seed sowing test site and a 700㎡ seedling transplantation test site. The main planted halophytes are reeds, Phragmites, and Sesuvium.

At the end of last month, the research group completed coastal slope and topography surveys of the Baekmiri mudflat and is currently analyzing the primary productivity of naturally growing halophytes and benthic microalgae. The research group plans to complete the test construction for the domestic standardization of Green Living coastal development technology at the Baekmiri mudflat within this month and monitor and analyze germination rates and establishment rates according to sowing methods and seedling sizes until 2026.

Jung Myung-geun, mayor of Hwaseong-si, said, "We will strengthen public-private-academic cooperation so that this project can serve as a starting point to raise awareness of the importance of Blue Carbon and expand eco-friendly coastal development projects."

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.