Today's News

Birds that are found almost everywhere on the earth are closely related to human existence and development.

Recently, however, some birds are on the verge of extinction as ecosystems have been destroyed for several reasons. Therefore, it is more important to protect birds, especially migratory birds.

Migratory birds are those inhabiting different countries and regions while passing through them, and are under worldwide common protection.

To raise public awareness and correctly inform people of the need to protect migratory birds, the international community set the second Saturdays of May and October as World Migratory Birds Day (WMBD) with a view to giving people a correct understanding of the need to protect such birds and drawing their positive attention to it.

The theme of this year’s WMBD is “Every Bird Counts–Your Observation Matters”.

Regular surveys and conservation of migratory birds, which travel across the continents and oceans according to seasons, and of their habitats cannot be expected to be successful without international cooperation and efforts.

The protection of migratory birds is done under the national concern in the DPRK.

Our country is located at the centre of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. The wetland ecosystem of the country is developed with large areas of tideland, lagoons and estuaries on the east and west coastal areas of the country and with many rivers and artificial lakes in the inland areas, thus providing favourable physiographical conditions for the inhabitation of migratory birds. Accordingly, our country plays an important role in the stopover, breeding and wintering of migratory birds in well over a hundred kinds, including over 30 kinds of migrants belonging to globally endangered species. 

Our institute has regularly surveyed migratory birds inhabiting the country according to seasons and on an annual basis to estimate their change and solved sci-tech problems for their protection.

From 2019 to February this year, it regularly surveyed and estimated the resource quantities concerning such birds wintering in over 70 wetlands on the east and west coastal and inland areas and regularly shared the results with the Wetlands International. And it has regularly surveyed the stopover of migratory birds during their migration in spring and autumn and their breeding in summer in many migratory bird reserves, including the Mundok and Kumya migratory bird reserves which are international wetland reserves.

It also updated the list of endangered species on the basis of the survey and evaluation of the change and habitats of migratory birds inhabiting our country and has conducted the work for protecting them.

Recently, it has made achievements in confirming 10-odd candidate areas of tens of thousands of hectares for migratory bird reserves and setting them as new similar reserves.

Not content with its achievements, the institute will fulfil its responsibility in protecting biodiversity including the protection of migratory birds.