UNESCO on July 26 officially designated gaetbol (Korean tidal flats) World Natural Heritage during its 44th World Heritage Committee session held online in Fuzhou, China. The photo is of Gochang Gaetbol in Gochang-gun County, Jeollabuk-do Province.

By Lee Jihye and Lee Jihae 
Photos = Cultural Heritage Administration

Gaetbol (Korean tidal flats, spelled "getbol" in UNESCO) have been inscribed as world natural heritage by UNESCO.

The world cultural authority on July 26 included the tidal flats on its World Heritage list at its 44th World Heritage Committee session held online in Fuzhou, China.

The designation is Korea's second for natural heritage in 14 years, following that for "Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes" in 2007.

The gaetbol are also Korea's 15th entry on the World Heritage list, joining previous honorees like Seokguram Grotto of Bulguksa Temple in Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province.

The purpose of the UNESCO designation of world natural heritage is to recognize "outstanding universal value" from the perspectives of science, conservation and natural beauty through the protection of nature like the habitats of endangered species and geological products.

The four tidal flats are Seocheon Gaetbol in Seocheon-gun County, Chungcheongnam-do Province; Gochang Gaetbol in Gochang-gun County, Jeollabuk-do Province; Sinan Gaetbol in Sinan-gun County, Jeollanam-do Province; and Boseong-Suncheon Gaetbol in Boseong-gun County and the city of Suncheon, both in Jeollanam-do.

Five provincial governments supervise the tidal flats, which are all designated protected wetland areas.

The gaetbol are also habitats for rare species including 22 endangered water birds such as oysterbirds, storks and hooded cranes and five marine invertebrates.

Yonhap News said the four tidal flats cover a combined 1,300 sq. km, with the Sinan Gaetbol being the largest at around 1,100 sq. km.

The UNESCO committee said the tidal flats were added to the World Heritage list because they are among the world's most important and meaningful habitats for the preservation of the planet's biodiversity, as well as being stopovers for endangered migratory birds. Thus the flats have outstanding universal value, it added. 

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), an advisory and screening body under UNESCO, in May had deferred inscription of the tidal flat on the list. The IUCN at the time said that while it recognized the "outstanding universal value" of the tidal flats as habitats preserving biodiversity, it delayed their inclusion because they did not "include the addition of further areas to both the property and its buffer zone."

Eventually, the tidal flats were unanimously named to the list by the committee's 21 member states.

President Moon Jae-in on July 27 called the designation "very good news" on his social media accounts. He pledged that his administration will cooperate with local governments to preserve the gaetbol's ecosystems and provide full support so that the tidal flats can help spur regional development and be shared as a precious World Heritage with the world. 

UNESCO's World Heritage Committee on July 26 said it designated gaetbol (Korean tidal flats) for their "outstanding universal value" as stopovers for endangered migratory birds. Shown here is the spoon-billed sandpiper, which was designated a "critically endangered" species by the IUCN in 2008.