13 Dec
2006 - Haikou, China – In an attempt to protect
the Yellow Sea’s rich biodiversity from pollution,
WWF is pushing for a joint marine protected area
in the shared waters between China and the Republic
of Korea.
The Yellow Sea, one of the largest
shallow areas of continental shelf in the world,
is home to a diverse range of species, including
dugongs, gray whales, marine turtles and rich
fish life.
The call for the establishment
of a network of protected areas came at recent
meeting of the East Asian Seas Congress, where
WWF disclosed a map of potential priority areas
for biodiversity conservation in the Yellow Sea
Ecoregion. A total of 23 priority areas have been
identified by scientists from China, Korea, as
well as Japan, after an extensive assessment of
the marine habitat was conducted.
“The Yellow Sea’s biodiversity,
including its fishery resources, has been deteriorating
for decades due to shortsighted economic activities
and unsustainable uses of the natural resources
in the region,” said Tobai Sadayosi, head of WWF-Japan’s
marine programme and coordinator for the Yellow
Sea Eco-region Planning Programme (YSEPP).
“It is time for all stakeholders
to join hands in creating a trans-boundary network
of marine protected areas to protect the priority
conservation areas being identified.”
In 2005, the YSEPP signed a
memorandum of understanding with the Yellow Sea
Large Marine Ecosystem (YSLME) project, a UN-sponsored
project that aims to strengthen and coordinate
cooperation between China and Korea on trans-boundary
environmental and sustainable development issues
in the Yellow Sea. The agreement allow WWF and
the United Nations Development Programme forge
regional collaboration on a Yellow Sea protection
strategy.
The Yellow Sea is one of WWF’s
Global 200 Ecoregions, a science-based global
ranking of the Earth's most biologically outstanding
terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats. It
provides a critical blueprint for biodiversity
conservation at a global scale. The Yellow Sea
Ecoregion encompasses the Baihai Sea, the Yellow
Sea and the northern part of the East China Sea
up to a depth of 200m.
Tan Rui, Communications Officer
Wang Songlin, Marine Programme Office
