Technical Evaluation Mission Carried Out to “Getbol, Korean Tidal Flat”

UNESCO advisory body examined the state of conservation and management of getbol nominated to UNESCO World Natural Heritage

 The Cultural Heritage Administration (Administrator Chung Jae-suk) and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (Minister Moon Seong-hyeok) announced that the Technical Evaluation Mission to Getbol, Korean Tidal Flat, a nomination to World Heritage as a natural heritage, took place from September 30 to October 7 by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources), an advisory body to UNESCO for World Heritage.

 The technical mission is part of the evaluation process applied to all nominations submitted to UNESCO to become a World Heritage, along with other experts-led participatory procedure such as desk review and panel discussion; in the course of evaluation, relevant advisory bodies conduct the mission commissioned by UNESCO, and their report, along with other procedural examination on the nomination, leads UNESCO to adopt its recommendation among four options to inscribe, refer, defer and not to inscribe on the World Heritage List, for assistance of final decision at the Committee.

 As the mission experts, Bastian Bertzky, a science adviser to IUCN, and Sonali Ghosh, a director at the Indian Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, assumed the responsibility and made a visit to the nominated sites.

 Getbol, Korean Tidal Flat is a serial nomination, consisting of four areas of Seocheon Getbol (Seocheon, Chungcheongnam-do), Gochang Getbol (Gochang, Jeollabuk-do), Sinan Getbol (Sinan, Jeollanam-do) and Boseong-Suncheon Getbol (Boseong & Suncheon, Jeollanam-do). The mission experts visited four getbols for seven days during the period and met site managers, locals as well as experts to examine in person the state of protection and management of getbols and the “integrity” of the property, a condition that must be satisfied to be a World Heritage.

 They visited major getbols such as Yubudo in Seocheon, Mandol-ri in Gochang, Seon-do in Sinan, Jang-do in Boseong and Suncheon Bay. For the vast area of Sinan getbol, a helicopter was arranged to afford a bird’s eye view and drones were used to observe some inaccessible areas. The entire nominated property was 129,346 ha in area, all being designated as Wetland Protected Area at the national level.

 IUCN will report its final evaluation including about this mission to the 44th World Heritage Committee scheduled in July next year, at which the Committee decides whether to inscribe getbol on the World Heritage List.