Participants light LED candles at a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership. [Ghent University Global Campus]
Participants light LED candles at a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership. [Ghent University Global Campus]

An international academic event exploring nature-based solutions to the climate crisis was held in Songdo, Incheon.

Experts from South Korea and abroad agreed that protecting coastal wetlands and migratory bird flyways is a key strategy for building climate resilience, and stressed the need to expand international joint research.

Ghent University Global Campus and Marine Jeugd Korea hosted an international seminar Tuesday at G-Tower in Songdo, themed "Coastal Wetland Ecosystems, Migratory Flyway Conservation and Climate Resilience."

The Flyway University Alliance and the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership co-organized the event as a side program of international activities marking the 20th anniversary of the EAAFP.

Researchers and experts from South Korea, China, Japan, Thailand, Bangladesh and Indonesia attended the seminar, sharing findings on coastal wetland conservation policy, migratory flyway management, blue carbon utilization and climate change response.

Park Ji-hye, a professor in the environmental engineering department at Ghent University Global Campus, moderated the event. EAAFP Chief Executive Officer Jennifer George and Zhang Zhichang, vice president of Beijing Forestry University, delivered congratulatory remarks emphasizing the importance of international cooperation.

In the keynote address, Ghent University Global Campus President Han Tae-jun presented on "Global Tidal Flat Solidarity: Connecting Science, Nature, People and Peace," highlighting the international significance of the Yellow Sea tidal flats and the need for cooperation.

Flyway University Alliance Chair Lei Guangchun then introduced China's migratory bird protection policies and examples of international collaboration.

Experts from Hokkaido University and Nagaoka University of Technology in Japan, Jagannath University in Bangladesh, Mahidol University in Thailand, Brawijaya University in Indonesia, and the Incheon Research Institute also presented research findings and policy cases from their respective countries, discussing nature-based strategies for addressing the climate crisis.

"It is deeply meaningful to have held an international seminar in Incheon — the heart of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway — with the participation of 22 universities from 13 countries," Han said. "I hope this becomes a genuine starting point for practical cooperation in developing nature-based solutions to the climate crisis through the protection of wetlands and migratory birds."

Park said the seminar "was an opportunity to give concrete shape to international cooperation in coastal wetland conservation, migratory flyways, climate resilience and blue carbon," adding that the university would "further expand joint research and global networks on the basis of this event."

Meanwhile, the research findings and cooperative initiatives discussed at the seminar are expected to be taken up at the second EAAFP Science Symposium and the Flyway University Alliance general assembly, both scheduled for Fuzhou, China, in November.


gilbert@heraldcorp.com