“The location chosen for the planned cable car project is confirmed to be the main habitat of endangered mountain goats, and there are several kinds of natural vegetation aged over 200 years old that need to be preserved.”
“Yangyang County is driving the project in the name of regional economic vitalization, but it is only pushing the goats out of their habitat. Also, the ministry has already denied the project twice as it could severely harm the environment in the national park.”
- Pan-national Committee against Cable Car Projects in Natural Parks
In a bid to boost the local economy, the Yangyang County Office of Gangwon Province has filed a request to the Ministry of Environment to authorize a plan to develop a gondola cable car which will travel 3.5㎞ at Mt. Seorak. (image: Joshua Schnable/flickr)
SEOUL, Aug. 4 (Korea Bizwire) – Environmental activists have argued that the Osaek sector of Mt. Seorak is part of the habitat of endangered mountain goats, and that cable car projects in the area should be abandoned.
According to the Pan-national Committee against Cable Car Projects in Natural Parks on August 3, the planned location of the cable car overlaps the habitat of the goats, and contains natural vegetation older than 200 years.
In a bid to boost the local economy, the Yangyang County Office of Gangwon Province has filed a request to the Ministry of Environment to authorize a plan to develop a gondola cable car which will travel 3.5㎞ at Mt. Seorak. The plan has already been denied by the ministry twice.
The committee discovered 53 different locations with goat excrement and goat hoof prints. It detected goats 14 times through unmanned cameras, which captured mountain goats with their young. The mountain goat is a first-class endangered animal, with only 700 still living in Korea.
By John Choi (johnchoi@koreabizwire.com)
