Sanctuary of White-naped Cranes at Hangang River Estuary

The white-naped crane breeds in Transbaikalia, China, around Lake Khanka and in the Ussuri region, and spends the winter in Korea, China and Japan. It lives on tidal flats and farmland, and while it eats shellfish and other invertebrates, it prefers corn, wheat, barley, grass seeds and roots. The Sanctuary of White-naped Cranes at the Hangang River Estuary lies on the delta where the Imjingang and Hangang Rivers meet, between Sannam-ri, Munbal-ri and Sinchon-ri in Gyoha-myeon, Paju-gun, and Haseong-myeon, Gimpo-gun, Gyeonggi Province. White-naped cranes are said to have wintered here since before the Second World War. However, since the 1980s, plans to dam the upper Hangang River and expand farmland led to the installation of sluice gates and military stonework, which changed water levels and salinity; as a result, food plants for the cranes, such as Salsola komarovii, Suaeda species and bulrush, declined. In their place, salt-tolerant reeds, sea asters and cogon grass have now grown in abundance. Because of these environmental changes, the population of white-naped cranes that once wintered on the delta at the Hangang River estuary has gradually shifted to wintering in Japan instead, and the area has now become the site in Korea with the largest number of visiting swan geese, themselves a Natural Monument. The Sanctuary of White-naped Cranes at the Hangang River Estuary is one of Korea's representative wintering sites for the white-naped crane, and is therefore designated and protected as a Natural Monument.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gimpo, Gyeonggi

Designation

Natural Monument · 천연기념물