Bonjour à tous,

Bonnes nouvelles !

Sur Ornithomedia.com, nos vous parlons depuis plusieurs semaines du peojet d'assèchement des 40 100 ha de Saemangeum en Corée du sud, et notre site fait partie de 10 sites web mondiaux à relayer l'information.

Notre contact coréen nous a communiqué aujourd'hui, 15/07, une très bonen nouvelle : la cour de justice coréenne du district de Seoul a demandé de stopper les travaux immédiatement, estimant que les sommes à dépenser n'étaient pas justifiées vis à vis de la médiocre qualité des terres gagnées. Le Ministère d el'Agriculture a décidé de faire appel.

Merci à tous de continuer à soutenir les associations coréennes dans leurs efforts, en visitant la page [www.wbkenglish.com] qui propose des lettres de protestation.

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Voici le message original :

Do environmental protests work?
In reference to the world's largest (ongoing?) reclamation project, the 40
100 ha Saemangeum reclamation project on the west coast of South Korea (asite supporting ca 30 species of waterbird in internationally importantconcentrations....) some HUGE NEWS....

Today, July 15th, a mid-level court (the Third District of Seoul
Adminstrative Court) made a historic ruling on a case brought by the
leaders of South Korea's environmental groups and 3 539 local citizens: the
Saemangeum project must stop, effective immediately.

The court ruled that water in the proposed huge reclamation reservoirs
will be of too low quality for agricultural use - rendering the project's
meaning illegitimate and the costs required to clean it up far in excess of thoseclaimed by the government.

The Ministry of Agriculture has already announced that it will appeal. A
FINAL RULING will be made within the next two to three months.

The decision is a historic one, as it offers a real chance to stop finally
this most destructive of projects. Showing respect for historical
precendents (e.g. the Shihwa reclamation project which was completed in
1994 but cannot be used for agriculture because of water pollution), the
court's decision revealed the independence of the judiciary and the determination of the environmental movement in South Korea: especially admirable when South Korea's short history as a democracy (a mere 15 years) is considered.

International opposition needs to continue and strengthen between now and September - a time when up to 200 Spoon-billed Sandpipers can be found staging at Saemangeum; we need to weaken the Ministry of Agriculture's resolve, and to convince the government to take advantage of this historic ruling.

This is the best chance we will ever have to finally kill this
catastrophic project off. If you have not already done so, please refer to
more information on Saemangeum at [www.wbkenglish.com],
which includes addresses of Embassies etc to send letters of
concern/protest to.

Thank you everybody for you continuing efforts!

Généralités et Environnement

15/07 : Bonnes nouvelles pour Saemangeum !