Dadohaehaesang

Dadohaehaesang Marine National Park was declared in 1981 and at some 2,266 km² it is the largest in South Korea. Its name means literally "park of the sea of many islands", and describes exactly what it protects: an archipelago of more than one thousand seven hundred islands and islets scattered along the south-western coast of the country, between South Jeolla province and the Korea Strait.

Most of the park's area is marine. The islands are outcrops of granite and volcanic rock eroded by the sea, with cliffs, shingle beaches and small bays; some are inhabited by fishing communities that maintain traditional systems of harvesting the sea, seaweed farming included, and others remain deserted and serve as seabird refuges.

The park takes in very varied environments: temperate laurel forests on the more sheltered islands, salt marshes, rocky and sandy seabeds, and staging areas for Yellow Sea migratory birds. Among the notable species are the black-faced spoonbill, one of the most threatened birds in East Asia, and coastal cetaceans. The park's geographical dispersal, split into sectors far apart from one another, makes its management especially complex.