Students applying bird protection stickers to a soundproof wall (Image provided by Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education)
NAJU, Jan. 13 (Korea Bizwire) –Elementary school students’ efforts to protect birds from fatal collisions with building windows and road noise barriers have led to the enactment of a new ordinance in the city of Naju, South Jeolla Province.
On December 12, the Jeollanam-do Office of Education announced that the Naju City Council had passed the ‘Naju Wildlife Collision Reduction and Prevention Ordinance’, proposed by council member Hwang Kwang-min and students from Noannam Elementary School.
The students’ initiative to protect wild birds began in 2021. While engaging in activities like cycling and plogging, they noticed dead birds beneath transparent noise barriers along roadsides. This discovery prompted them to monitor the issue of wild birds dying after colliding with these transparent barriers. Starting in June 2021, they began attaching bird-shaped stickers to a 225-meter-long transparent noise barrier to prevent such collisions.
In July of last year, the students participated in the Jeollanam-do Provincial Assembly’s Youth Parliament classroom, where they started drafting the ordinance. With assistance from experts like Kim Young-jun, who heads the Division of Zoological Research and Management at the National Institute of Ecology, and researcher Kim Yun-jeon, they finalized the ordinance proposal.
The ordinance mandates that the city of Naju and public agencies attach bird collision prevention tape or install glass blocks on buildings and facilities like transparent noise barriers. Engraving certain patterns on transparent glass is expected to prevent bird collisions by making the glass visible to birds that otherwise would not notice it.
The ordinance also includes provisions for educating and raising awareness among local elementary, middle, and high school students, as well as citizens in general about measures to reduce and prevent bird collisions.
After going through deliberations at the city council, the ordinance was subsequently passed.
Kim Soo-hyun, a fifth-grader from Noannam Elementary School, expressed hope that the students’ small actions could create a safer environment for birds, noting that around 8 million birds die nationwide from collisions with glass every year.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
WOW! Amazing work, what incredible effort by these young leaders.