Policymakers still favor coastal reclamations The exquisite and
endangered Black-faced Spoonbill has returned to the mudflats of
Songdo. A rare and dignified creature of prehistoric nobility,
he reappears every spring, sporting his royal sash and golden
tassels. His kingdom is the sandbars, substrates, and shellfish
beds that snake all the way to Sorae creek. He nests on the
lonely islet, he bathes in the rock pools. He trawls the
shallows, with sideways sweeps of his long, spatulate bill. For
the first time in millennia, however, this idyllic scene has
changed. Plastic pipes, poles and debris lie scattered over the
thick, dark mud. Men in bulldozers bark orders at each other, as
they set about barraging, drying out and destroying the ancient
tidal flats. One has to wonder at how men can casually destroy
their nation’s natural heritage. Perhaps they do not notice the
beautiful life around them. Perhaps they view globally
threatened species as on the same level as cockroaches or
houseflies, to be exterminated