Citizens to join ecological survey of endangered species along Seomjin River

The National Institute of Environmental Research announced Monday it will conduct a citizen-participation ecological survey along the Seomjin River basin to assess the status of endangered species and their habitats.

The survey runs through Friday, with an additional round planned for October.

Participating citizens will first receive training from experts on survey methods and how to respond to potential hazards in the field, then fan out along the river and its surrounding riparian areas to document sightings and traces of endangered species, as well as habitat conditions such as water depth.

The institute said large-river ecological surveys have historically focused on the four major rivers, leaving the Seomjin River underrepresented despite its high ecological value.

The government is pursuing a plan to elevate the Seomjin River to a fifth independent river system and establish an integrated basin water-management framework, effectively expanding the existing four-river system to five.

Meanwhile, citizen-participation ecological surveys of the same format will also be conducted along the main channels of the four major rivers from August through October. Results will be verified before being made public and used as baseline data for ecosystem conservation and management.