Situated at the confluence of the Mangyeung and Dongjin river estuaries, on South Korea’s Yellow Sea coast, the Saemangeum Wetlands is a shorebird staging site of great importance. Its tidal flats and shallows support many bird species, some of which are considered to be globally threatened. In 2006, the status of this wetland—as well as the thousands of migratory birds that depend on it as a key feeding area—came under threat due to the completion of a 22-mile- (33-km-) long sea wall at the mouth of the two estuaries. The sea wall is part of a reclamation project that involves cultivating the tidal flats, and converting the remaining estuarine areas into freshwater reservoirs. The project is going ahead despite the fears of conservation groups that it will result in irreversible environmental damage.