Aju Business Daily

SEOUL -- The southern port city of Busan will utilize drones to monitor and record the unique ecosystem of the Nakdong River that runs down along the southeastern part of the Korean peninsula and has an estuary that is home to migratory birds. The estuary was designated as a national monument.

Busan said in a statement on February 24 that its research center will use drones to monitor wildlife and collect data about hard-to-reach places around the estuary. "Data collected through this project will be used as base information for the recovery and management of food plants for migratory birds, management of near-extinct plants, eradication of invasive alien species, and the management of healthy plant ecosystems," said Busan's river management department head Shin Je-ho.

Instead of outdated aerial images, drones will monitor changes made to the nesting grounds of migratory birds and colony of food plants around the coastline. In 2020, Busan used drones to monitor and research the dispersed ecosystem of Scirpus planiculumis, the regionally dominant plant species in wetlands. Migrant birds including tundra swans favor the wetland plant. In 2020, researchers found a colony of seagrasses that grow in marine environments and were almost extinct in the 1990s.