ラムサール条約湿地・ウポ沼（大韓民国）の環境保全と住民

Residents and Environmental Conservation of the Upo Wetlands Ramsar Site, Republic of Korea

淺野 敏久

金 枓哲

平井 幸弘

香川 雄一

伊藤 達也

E-journal GEO

本稿では，韓国で2番目にラムサール登録されたウポ沼について，登録までの経緯とその後の取り組みをまとめ，沼周辺住民がそうした状況をどのように受け止めているのかを明らかにした．ラムサール登録されるまでの過程や，その後のトキの保護増殖事業の受け入れなどの過程において，ウポ沼の保全は，基本的にトップダウンで進められている．また，湿地管理の姿勢として，「共生」志向というよりは「棲み分け」型の空間管理を志向し，生態学的な価値観や方法論が優先されている．このような状況に対して，住民は不満を感じている．湿地の重要さや保護の必要性への理解はあるものの，ラムサール登録されて観光客が年間80万人も訪れるようになっているにも関わらず，利益が住民に還元されていないという不満がある．ウポ沼の自然は景観としても美しく，わずか231 haほどの沼に年間80万人もの観光客が訪れ，観光ポテンシャルは高い．湿地の環境をどう利用するかが考慮され，地元住民を意識した利益還元や利益配分の仕組みをつくっていくことが課題であろう．

The Upo swamp, which was registered as a Ramsar Convention wetland in 1998, is the second Ramsar wetlands site in the Republic of Korea. This research aimed to clarify the process of Ramsar wetlands registration and the local governance established afterward for the environmental conservation of the Upo swamp, focusing on the impacts on local residents' livelihoods and their perception of the Ramasar registration.
In the process of the Ramsar registration as well as the crested ibis breeding grounds project, the conservation activities for the Upo swamp have been implemented in a top-down style. Moreover, ecological virtues have been overemphasized in the establishment of local environmental governance for the Upo swamp, paying little attention to coexistence with local residents. This has resulted in significant spatial segregation between the conserved Ramsar site (the Upo swamp) and the surrounding villages in the Upo area, although residents have interacted for hundreds of years with the Upo swamp for their livelihoods. The local residents have been frustrated by this bureaucratic protectionism. They agree on the importance of wetlands protection, although they feel that they have not sufficiently participated in the benefit sharing from the Ramsar registration, in spite of a huge increase in tourist numbers to about 800,000 per year. The potential for tourism in the Upo swamp is evaluated very highly, with its rich biodiversity and beautiful landscape. Benefit-sharing mechanisms with local residents should be established in the Upo area, while conserving its environmental virtues.

ラムサール条約

自然保護地区

住民意識

ウポ沼

大韓民国

Ramsar Convention

nature conservation area

residents' perceptions

Upo wetlands

Republic of Korea

建設工学・土木工学 [ 510 ]

日本語

日本地理学会

Copyright (c) 2013 日本地理学会

[ISSN] 1880-8107

[DOI] 10.4157/ejgeo.8.223