Grain residues attract more and more migratory cranes

A flock of white-naped cranes are eating grains of rice in Dongsong town, Cheorwon-gun, Gangwon-do on October 20. Courtesy of the Cheorwon-gun branch of the Korea Crane Protection Association

“In 20 years, the number of cranes visiting the Cheorwon Plain has increased more than sixfold. It's amazing to see cranes and white-naped cranes flocking in large groups and pecking at the grains in the rice fields.”

Farmers living near the Civilian Demarcation Line in Cheorwon-gun, Gangwon Province, exclaimed as they watched the migratory birds land in the fields on November 7.

The endangered wild birds, the crane (Natural Monument No. 202) and the white-naped crane (Natural Monument No. 203), are known as "winter visitors" for their graceful wings and noble demeanor.

According to the Cheorwon-gun and the Cheorwon Crane Committee, more than 3,000 cranes have flown to the Cheorwon Plain since the middle of last month. In addition, cranes that have traveled more than 2,000 kilometers from Siberia and other places are expected to visit the Cheorwon Plain in earnest from this month. The Cheorwon-gun estimates that between 6,500 and 7,000 cranes will visit the Cheorwon Plain within the Civilian Control Line this winter.

Seven species of cranes can be observed in the Cheorwon Plain, including cranes, white-naped cranes, black-necked cranes (Natural Monument No. 451), black cranes (Natural Monument No. 228), Sandhill cranes, Siberian white cranes, and Demoiselle cranes.

It is thanks to the efforts of local governments and farmers to provide food for the migratory birds that the sparsely populated Cheorwon Plain has become one of the largest wintering grounds for cranes in Korea.

Since 2003, Cheorwon-gun has been implementing a contract of Payments for Ecosystem Services.

This is a system that provides incentives to farmers and local governments for migratory bird protection activities, such as leaving rice straw in the fields after harvest without collecting it. The grains that fall from the straw become food for cranes.

This year, Cheorwon-gun spent 1.1 billion won to sign contracts with more than 690 farmers to retain rice straw on 1,077 hectares of agricultural land within the Civilian Control Line. The unit price of the contract is 50 won per square meter, which means an average of 1.59 million won per farmer.

Baek Jong-han (78), chairman of the Cheorwon Crane Committee, said, “When rice straw remains in a rice field of 3,960 square meters (0.4 hectares), 19 kilograms of rice grains fall to the ground and feed 70 to 80 cranes a day.” “In the end, retaining rice straw on 1,077 hectares has the effect of supplying more than 51 tons of food,” he said.

Although farmers can make more money by collecting rice straw and selling it as feed for cattle, most of them are actively participating in the project to protect the ecosystem.

The size of the “Ecosystem Service Payment contract” in Cheorwon-gun, which started 21 years ago with 3 million won, has grown 366 times to 1.1 billion won. Thanks to this, the number of cranes staying has also increased significantly. According to data from the Ministry of Environment and Cheorwon-gun, the number of cranes visiting the Cheorwon Plain has been steadily increasing, from 1,069 in 2004, 1,718 in 2012, 3155 in 2016, 5,752 in 2020, and 6,573 in 2023. This means that the number of cranes, including cranes and white-naped cranes, has increased more than five times in 20 years since the rice straw retention project began.

“Since we started the project, the soil has improved, and the number of cranes has increased as well,” said Lee Jong-wook, the chief of the Clean Environment and Natural Ecology team in Cheorwon-gun.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.