Campaigns in opposition to the $19 billion dollar Four Major Rivers Restoration Project have been spreading rapidly, and the protests over the feared environmental impact is being lead by various religious leaders (Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists and Won Buddhists). Bird Conservation Organizations are also actively spreading the news and concern about the inevitable damage to the habitat and survival of the birds. The main concern for all is the speed at which the construction is being pushed through. Read more about it in below links. The last link is the link to the government site where it describes the project & “success stories” of past projects.
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/420183.htmlly
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Seoul,-masses-and-prayers-against-Four-Rivers-project-18267.html
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/02/113_55203.html
http://10000birds.com/birds-korea-and-the-four-rivers-project.htm
http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2010/03/news_in_brief_04.html
http://www.birdskorea.org/Habitats/4-Rivers/BK-HA-Preliminary-Report-2010.shtml
http://www.4rivers.go.kr/new/eng/
FRRP is indeed a controversial public project which is being bulldozed by the government. I happen to be one who agrees with the rationale for such restoration along the rivers, and if someone ever visited those rivers, one will also concur. As GoneFishing mentioned, the problem is the fact that the government is so obsessed about the speed of the project - to finish the project within the term. And also, all those "human-friendly" approaches that the blueprints revealed, I am really concerned and uncomfortable. Write to your local representatives about how you think about FRRP.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Soboro. It's a government program so we don’t expect it to be perfect, but the pace at which this is happening is very concerning. I’m not sure if the protests will amount to any change since the bulldozers are already digging. I do see it as an opportunity to get anglers united, do you see any of that happening amongst the fly fishing community there? What about other larger organizations like KPFA (Korean Pro Fishing Association)? I thought they were known to have pretty big lobbying powers?
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