Land use management and cultural value of ecosystem services in Southwestern Korean islands

There are widespread tidal flats along the southwestern coast of Korea. At the provincial level, Jeonnam region has the largest tidal flat area, of which the main part is located in Shinan-gun, a municipality consisting of only islands. This area, including its tidal flats, has a high species diversity as well as a high cultural. However, the various important ecological functions of tidal flats are not recognized, as in most cases the tidal flats are utilized simply as reclaimed land. During the period of Japanese colonialism in the 20th century large-scale reclamation of tidal flats took place in Shinan-gun, and rice was produced on the land that was reclaimed. From the standpoint of ecological services, tidal flats can be more than agricultural fields. Even though tidal flats have not yet been analyzed from the cultural perspective so much, their value can be expected to be very high. As an aggregation of a variety of ecological functions that occur by ecological processes, tidal flats have the better value in terms of ecological services than other land uses. This new, richer understanding of the value of tidal flats should be a stimulus to maximize its value by thoughtful landscape management and planning.