Experts say the fact that the plant¡¯s habitat is located at a Four Rivers site was left off of the November environmental impact study

It has been revealed that the inhabitation of the plant Danyang Ssukbujaengi (Aster altaicus var. uchiyamae), which is close to extinction, was omitted from the recent environmental impact study for the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project. In this situation, construction companies are pushing forward with the project, and the plant¡¯s survival is now in further jeopardy.

On Monday, several excavators continued dredging Dori Island, a 7m high island at the confluence of the Namhan River and Cheongmi Stream in Jeomdong Township, Yeoju County, Gyeonggi Province. Near a green flag marking a dredging spot, four to five colonies (several thousand plants) of Danyang Ssukbujaengi, a class 2 endangered species, were discovered. An additional discovery included two Korean tiger lizards, which is also a class 2 endangered species. Hyun Jin-oh, head of the Northeast Asia Vegetation Research Institute, said Dori Island is, along with the Bawineup Gubi wetland, the only place in the world where it is possible to find a concentration of Danyang Ssukbujaengi, and that no such large communities of the plant have been found elsewhere.

In examining November¡¯s environmental impact report that gave the green light for the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, however, no mention was made that Dori Island is home to the Danyang Ssukbujaengi and Korean tiger lizard. As a result, no plan was created or enacted to preserve their original habitat or prepare an alternative habitat, and construction is proceeding recklessly. Just 20m from the colony of Danyang Ssukbujaengi, an excavator was commencing construction and digging up the earth. Hwang Min-hyeok, an activist with Green Korea, said in two to three days, the Danyang Ssukbujaengi would be dug up by the fork cranes and the Korean tiger lizard would loose its habitat. He also said that just four months after the poor environmental impact study, both species are on the brink of extinction. After the completion of the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, the area will be turned into an ecological park with cement walking and bike paths.

The Danyang Ssukbujaengi, which at one point was thought to be extinct, was discovered in 2005 in the middle and lower stream areas of the Namhan River. Ministry of Environment regulations call for preservation measures to be negotiated with environmental authorities once new endangered species are confirmed, but the construction company has not reported the presence of the species despite discovering them. Han Nam-seop of the Han River Basic Environmental Office said he has yet to receive a report of a Danyang Ssukbujaengi on Dori Island.

There is also controversy over the haphazard planting of Danyang Ssukbujaengi from the area around Samhap village. In accordance with the environmental impact study, the Korea Water Resources Corporation¡¯s Gangcheon levy team has been moving the Danyang Ssukbujaengi that live in Samhap village to Guram village in Gangcheon Township. However, a video filmed on April 10 by a group opposed to the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project shows a group of 40 women who appear to be day laborers pulling up the Danyang Ssukbujaengi with gloved hands. Kim Seong-man of the Green Korea said non-specialists are handling the endangered species without care.

Han Dong-wook of the PGA Wetland Ecology Research Institute said research on the Danyang Ssukbujaengi has been so delayed that there has yet to be a report on it submitted to the Botanical Society of Korea, and that a careful approach is needed.

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