Marado Island Natural Reserve

Marado is Korea’s southernmost island, oval in shape, short from east to west and long from north to south. It is thought to have formed as an isolated volcano erupting from the sea floor, though no crater is visible. The island is generally flat in relief, and its entire coastline, apart from a small headland, is rocky. The north-west coast, the east coast and the south coast are formed of cliffs some 20m high, and many caves produced by wave erosion are found there. The island’s land plants have all been cleared and the ground turned to farmland or grassland; only a stand of planted black pine grows in a small wood at the centre of the island. Marine plants, however, are very abundant: warm-temperate seaweeds are well preserved here, giving a flora quite different from that of the coasts of Jeju Island or the mainland. A total of 72 species of green, brown and red algae have been recorded growing here, and among marine animals, species not previously recorded in Korea have been found, comprising 6 species of sponge, 8 species of bivalve and 4 species of crustacean. The Marado Natural Reserve, lying at Korea’s southernmost point, shows the most pronounced warm-temperate marine flora and fauna in the country, and many species new to the Korean record and new to science have been found here. Its surrounding scenery is also beautiful, and it is accordingly designated and protected as a natural monument.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Seogwipo, Jeju

Designation

Natural Monument · 천연기념물