갯벌의 지속가능한 복원을 위한 법정책적 과제 = Legal Policy Challenges for Sustainable Restoration of Tidal Flats

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This article aims to present legal policy challenges for improving Korea’s current legal framework related to tidal flat restoration at a time when Korean tidal flats, despite being recognized for their outstanding value through inscription as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site, are experiencing simultaneous disruptions to their socio-ecological functions due to the climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis. To this end, the study derives implications from recent domestic and international policy trends concerning tidal flat restoration, reviews the current legal and institutional framework governing tidal flat restoration, analyzes its limitations, and explores legal and policy measures for the sustainable restoration of tidal flats.
At both the domestic and international levels, various policy initiatives and regulatory developments—including the UN ecosystem restoration strategy, the EU Nature Restoration Law, blue carbon strategies, marine ecological network management plans, and marine biodiversity conservation measures—have been established or adopted, thereby calling for significant changes in tidal flat restoration policy. In particular, tidal flat restoration policy should move toward establishing polycentric governance that enables stakeholder participation by linking human society with ecosystems. Furthermore, it is necessary to identify diverse types of tidal flat restoration projects and implement them over the long term, while integrating and managing relevant information through systematic investigations.
However, Korea’s current legal framework related to tidal flat restoration, mainly composed of the Tidal Flat Act and the Marine Ecosystem Act, reveals several limitations when compared to similar legal systems such as the Natural Environment Conservation Act and the Forest Resources Act. For example, the existing legal framework remains insufficient in terms of establishing specialized investigation and information systems for tidal flat restoration. In addition, the standards and procedures for implementing restoration projects are inadequate, institutional arrangements for project management and private-sector participation remain underdeveloped, and both human and material infrastructure necessary for tidal flat restoration are lacking.
In order to address these limitations from a legal policy perspective, it is necessary to establish an institutional foundation for introducing socio-ecological restoration systems for tidal flats, strengthen project management and implementation capacity for tidal flat restoration, and create an enabling governance environment that facilitates private-sector participation.
First, the concept of tidal flat restoration should be redefined from a socio-ecological restoration perspective, and foundational research and development programs related to the socio-ecological systems of tidal flats should be promoted in order to lay the groundwork for institutionalizing socio-ecological restoration.
Second, project management and implementation capacity should be reinforced by reorganizing and diversifying the types of tidal flat restoration projects, introducing evaluation systems for project feasibility and performance, and establishing a specialized institution dedicated to tidal flat restoration.
Third, a participatory governance environment should be fostered by encouraging private-sector involvement in tidal flat restoration, promoting climate-adaptive restoration projects at the village level, and piloting multi-layered governance models for tidal flat restoration.
It is hoped that the legal and policy challenges proposed in this article will serve as a cornerstone for the sustainable restoration of Korea’s tidal flats and contribute to a future in which human society and marine ecosystems coexist harmoniously.