The Office of National River Restoration officially announced in May 2nd that there were not any dangers of extinction founded even for ‘the Danyang aster helophyllus’ (Danyang Ssukbujaengi) in the further progress of the Project. The dispute started to arise from this February while the environment societies asserted that the rare wild plant only inhabits around the Southern Han River with threat of extinction because of the constructions. The ecoactivists have claimed the cease of the Project.
That wild plant is classified as the ‘Endangered Species Plant 2nd Grade’, being the biennial plants of Asteraceae Class. It is indigenous wild plant with thin leaves, and it inhabits only in the riverside sands so that it makes us easy distinguish them from the other sibling species. Slender leaves sprout in fall to survive the cold winter. From about late September to mid-October it blooms flower on top of the slender leaf.
The Gangcheon Isle, Gangcheon-myeon, Yeoju-gun, Gyeonggi-do(province) is located inside of the construction area of ‘the 6 Sector’ of the Project. Therefore the constructor plan to create ‘Nature Ecological Experience Park’ with protected wild species including ‘the Danyang aster helophyllus’. Government also announced official plan of the preservation for them as original form in all the habitats except the area inevitably to be damaged for creation of artificial stream.
That apparently shows the fact that both government and constructors have the nature friendly attitude for the recognition of the importance of the endangered species protection like ‘the Danyang aster helophyllus’. Therefore, the Government and constructors designated the habitat bed as ‘reservation area’ so that with visible signboard and boundaries we do the best for the damage minimization from any construction activities.
Presently ‘the Danyang aster helophyllus’ is waiting mass proliferation due to the successful research for proliferation by the authorized institutes of ‘Hwanghak Mount Arboretum’, ‘Pyeonggang Botanical Garden’, ‘the Botanical Garden of Shingu University’, ‘Danyang Technical Center of Agriculture’, and a private farm in Danyang county(all the spots have the permissions from the Ministry of Environment under the Clause 14 of the Endangered Species Act)
“Provided that soil condition meets the standards level, this plant can grow well. In Hwanghaksan Arboretum, several experiments for searching the fittest soil condition for them are on the process now,” Ms. LEE Yoon-Young, the researcher of botany, Hwanghaksan Arboretum in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province.
