To celebrate the twenty-fifth World Biodiversity Day on 2018 May 22nd, Ministry of Environment (MOE) of Republic of Korea (ROK) held an event from 17 – 19 May 2018 at the National Institute of Ecology (NIE) located in Seocheon; (ROK). This year with the slogan ‘Recovering ecology and rich biodiversity’, the event introduced important restoration cases and prepared programs for citizens to participate in various activities to acknowledge the importance and methods of restoring biodiversity.
On the 17th May at the start of the event, there was an opening ceremony where 300 people participated including Ms. Kim Eun Kyung, Minister of the Ministry of Environment (MOE), Mr. Lee Sang Don, member of Environment & Labor Committee, environment groups and citizens. At the request of the government, the EAAFP Secretariat team also participated in the ceremony and operated a booth during the three day event.
Nine organizations including the National Institute of Ecology (NIE) and the Korean National Park Service (KNPS), operated exhibition and program booths to introduce their activities to restore the biodiversity. The EAAFP Secretariat operated a booth as one of the organizations to introduce about the work of the EAAFP and the importance of the migratory waterbirds and their habitats. Citizens and other visitors were able to learn about the key species in the Flyway and the Secretariat staff answered questions about waterbirds and their protection. Visitors to the booth was encouraged to participate in decorating and writing messages to contribute to the EAAFP Interactive Art Project called “To Our Winged Travelers.”
Photographs from the event can be found in the following link: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmijmtWP