ISLAND FOR ENDANGERED BIRDS POLLUTED

[Anchor Lead]

In South Korea, Gujido, a small uninhabited island in the West Sea, is the nation's largest habitat for blackfaced spoonbills. Gujido was designated as a special island to protect the endangered birds. But the reality is different, as the island is covered with trash.

[Pkg]

From Yeonpyeongdo Island, it takes some ten minute's sail to reach Gujido Island. The small island is the nation's largest habitat for blackfaced spoonbills. The globally endangered birds visit Gujido Island every spring during the breeding season. But a closer look reveals its beaches are covered with fishing devices, buoys, pieces of styrofoam and even a refrigerator. There are traces of birds' nests built in the garbage.

[Soundbite] Jang Jeong-goo(Incheon City Gov't) : "This is styrofoam. They build nests with this garbage. This is a string. (This can get into the body of birds?) Yes, it's possible, when they pick it up with the beak to build a nest."

Annually, some 400 blackfaced spoonbills visit the island, which is also home to about 10,000 black-tailed gulls. The ecological treasure trove is plagued by marine waste.

[Soundbite] Park Seok-jae(Fisherman) : "There is a great deal of garbage, even under the sea. But we cannot access the island by ship. It is difficult to transport garbage. There are no solutions."

The Incheon city government picked up some five tons of garbage from the island once or twice each year. It has not carried out the clean-up operation this year due to difficult access. Regular clean-up operations need a garbage collection vessel that costs 28 billion won.

[Soundbite] Jang Jeong-goo(Incheon City Gov't) : "We need a special vessel to access the island and pull up garbage sunk under the sea."

Blackfaced spoonbills reach Gujido Island after a long flight from Taiwan that requires them to beat their wings 200,000 times. But their summer home has become a manmade wasteland.