Upo Wetland (Upo, Mokpo, Sajipo, Jjokjibeol) which lies across Saejin-ri,Daedae-ri of Yueoh-myeon, An-ri of Yibang-myeon and Joomae-ri ofDaehap-myeon in Changnyeong County, is the country’s largest naturalwetland.
It is recognized and protected under the Ramsar Convention held in March,1998 and the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance and it wasdesignated as a Wetland Protected Area in February, 1999 and as a NaturalReserve (No.524) in January, 2011 by the Ministry of Environment and inFebruary, 2012, the natural wetland areas around the Upo Wetland that needrehabilitation was designated as a wetland rehabilitation zone (62,940㎡).
The Wetland Protected Area has an area of 8.547㎢ and the Natural Reservehas an area of 3.438㎢. The area of submerged part of Upo Wetland isapproximately 2.313㎢.
There are two competing views about the origin of Upo Wetland. One saysthat the Wetland was created 140 million years ago and the other says that itwas created in B.C 4,000 which is about 6,000 years ago. However, in thesedimentary rocks near the Upo Weltand, footprints of a dinosaur which existedapproximately 110 ~ 120 million years ago, fossilized raindrop patterns, insectfossils have been found and the claim that the wetland was created 140 millionyears ago is regarded as the more probable one.
Upo Wetland is a vast wetland full of beautiful aquatic vegetation that includescattails, irises, reeds, water rice, water chestnuts, hornworts, arrowheads andthorn lotuses, Yellow Floating Heart lotuse, and summer migratory birds such asthe Pheasant-Tailed Jacana, Grey Heron, Night Heron and winter migratory likethe Whooper Swan, Falcated Duck, Eurasian Spoonbill, Bean Goose. Resident birds like the Little Grebe, Eurasian Eagle-Owl, Daurian Redstart and CommonKestrel can be found as well.
Also various living organisms such as the Northern Snakehead Crucian Carp,Common Carp, Pond Skaters, Mystery Snails, Paracercion v-nigrum (kingdragonflies) and Korean Water Scorpion can be found.
The restoration project for the crested ibis which is an endagered bird species,has been carried out since 2008 in Upo Weltand.
Ramsar Convention
An international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization ofwetlands which are important habitats for natatorial birds
Wetland Protected Area
Wetland areas that have native continuity or rich biodiversity designated bythe Ministry of Environment
Wetland Rehabilitation Area
Wetland areas that have poor ecosystem but are worth rehabilitating throughartificial management.
Upo Wetland 저작물은 자유이용을 불가합니다.
