An upcoming conference focused on the conservation of seagrass ecosystems and their role in carbon storage.

An upcoming conference focused on the conservation of seagrass ecosystems and their role in carbon storage.

A report on successful mangrove restoration projects across Southeast Asia, highlighting the benefits to both biodiversity and local communities.

There are three major issues threatening Jeju coast: climate change, increase in sea temperature, and the ocean waste. These are causing problems such as increase in abundance and intensity of typhoons, shift of habitat of organisms, and habitat destruction. In order to solve this problem, citizens should be more aware of this problem and participate in preservation of the Coast of Jeju. 

In January, 2024, unfiltered sewage and wastewater were directly discharged into the sea in Aewol-eup, Jeju City. This causes the river and ocean to be polluted. The cause of this disastrous event was weakening of the structure due to gases. The local community also expressed concern, as it caused a strong odor and significant environmental pollution.

Due to climate change, the diversity of native species near the halla mountain is decreasing at a fast rate. Especially, marine life like crabs, pollock, and seaweed in the East Sea are rapidly disappearing. The decrease in marine biodiversity is mostly on account of increase in sea temperature and blanching. This not only affects the local fisherman, but also affects the whole ecosystem and food web near the Jeju coastline. 

Jeju Coast is suffering a lot due to marine debris. Most of these trash are buoy or plastic bottles from China, and some are also from fisheries. These debates are causing a lot of problems, such as decrease in tourism industry, degradation of coastal scenery, and damage to the image of the island. However, the government is not active in solving this problem. Thus, the government should put some efforts in to solve fundamental problems by making infrastructure, monitoring illegal waste, and legislation for stronger punishment.

The Korea Green Union invested in the presence of microplastic is Jeju coast, and styrofoam, plastic pieces, plastic bags were all around the coast. The prevalence of microplastic is problematic since it is hard to artificially remove it and there is high risk of organisms consuming it. In order to solve this problem, the local government should implement policies such as abolishing plastic buoys and putting restrictions on single-use plastics.

Blanching is a serious problem in Jeju Coast as it is causing desertification. Bleaching refers to a process of whitening fabric due to an increase in the population of calcaerious algae. As the population of calcerous algae increases, it displaces the food source of many marine organisms. As the population of pre-existing algae decreases, the fishes are also endangered, as algae provide food and shelter for the fishes. 

Last summer, 2.2 million farmed flatfish died in Jeju island due to high water temperature and hot summer. According to Jeju Parliament, the deaths occurred at 77 out of 354 fish farms on Jeju island, which is 21.8% of the whole facility. The estimated economic loss totaled 5.3 billion KRW (approximately 4 million USD). The ocean temperature of the south and southwest coast was 31.8 degree celsius, which is higher than the average ocean temperature, which is between 26.7 and 29.3 degree celsius.