Inditex to invest W4.5b in South Korean tidal flat restoration

Inditex, the parent company of global fashion brand Zara, is partnering with the World Wide Fund for Nature to invest about 4.5 billion won ($3.34 million) in restoring a tidal flat ecosystem in South Korea.

Inditex and WWF signed an MOU Friday morning at Signiel Seoul in Jamsil, Seoul, for a project to restore the self-purification capacity and ecological environment of Garorim Bay's tidal flats. Inditex CEO Oscar Garcia Maceiras, WWF Korea Secretary General Park Min-hye and South Chungcheong Province Deputy Governor Gu Bon-young attended the signing ceremony.

Garorim Bay in Taean-gun, South Chungcheong Province, is home to spotted seals — a natural monument — as well as other marine protected species and endangered organisms, including fiddler crabs and eelgrass. The bay was inscribed as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site in July. Through the project, Inditex plans to work with WWF and South Chungcheong Province to support the recovery of South Korea's coastal ecosystem.

Inditex has maintained a global partnership with WWF since 2022, carrying out nature conservation and ecosystem restoration activities around the world. The latest project was developed as an extension of that partnership, with consideration given to South Korea's ecological characteristics and conservation challenges.

"Garorim Bay is a place of outstanding natural value," Maceiras said at a press briefing Friday. "Through this project, we aim to restore the bay's ecological functions and strengthen the resilience of this precious natural environment." He added that the project "will mark an important milestone not only in the history of collaboration between WWF and Inditex, but also in the history Inditex has built in South Korea."

The project will run from November through December 2029, with major restoration activities scheduled between 2027 and 2029. The budget Inditex is committing to the project is expected to reach 3 million euros.

Garorim Bay has long suffered from degraded water circulation and deteriorating ecological conditions, caused by the accumulation of abandoned aquaculture facilities, discarded fishing gear and dumped shellfish shells. WWF plans to restore about 40 hectares of tidal flats affected by the neglected aquaculture infrastructure.

WWF will dismantle the aquaculture facilities in stages and carry out activities to improve tidal flat conditions and seawater circulation. The organization will also support the recovery of native coastal vegetation, including eelgrass and salt marsh plants, and establish about 10 hectares of native salt marsh habitat.

"We reviewed several sites while discussing the partnership with Inditex," Park said. "Garorim Bay has high biodiversity value internationally, and through our existing spotted seal monitoring work, we had already identified areas in need of improvement, such as the abandoned aquaculture facilities."

Park added that the project would go beyond dismantling the abandoned facilities and ongoing monitoring to include community programs involving local residents and awareness-raising activities among fishermen.

Inditex also plans to explore additional corporate social responsibility projects in South Korea. "South Korea is an important market where Inditex is actively growing its business, and a place that feels very familiar and special to us," Maceiras said. "South Korea's rich culture and dynamic fashion ecosystem inspire our global operations every day."

"South Korea is an extremely important market for Inditex," he said. "This project is part of our global community investment strategy, and we will continue to seek out new opportunities and projects that can contribute to Korean communities going forward."

Inditex is a global fashion group whose brands include Zara, Massimo Dutti, Oysho and Zara Home. As part of its efforts to protect global biodiversity, the company has set a target to protect, restore and regenerate at least 5 million hectares of natural ecosystems worldwide by 2030. Since 2023, it has provided funding for ecosystem restoration initiatives with Conservation International and WWF projects.