The High Moor, Yongneup of Mt. Daeam

38°12′56″N 128°07′26″E / 38.21556°N 128.12389°E / 38.21556; 128.12389

Ramsar Wetland

Official nameThe High Moor, Yongneup of Mt. DaeamDesignated28 March 1997Reference no.898^[1]

The High Moor, Yongneup of Mt. Daeam is a wetland in Korea. Like the meaning of its name 'dragon swamp of big rocky mountain', the summit of Mt. Daeam (1340 m high above sea level) is formed of giant rocks. Near the peak of the mountain (1280 m above sea level), there is a natural freshwater wetland called Yongneup. Its coastal length is 210 m and its width is 275 m. It is the first Korean wetland to be registered on the list of the Ramsar Convention of Wetlands in 1997.

Characteristics

The name Yongneup signifies that it is a place where dragons rest when they fly up to the sky (Yong means dragon in Korean and neup means wetland). It is the highest moor with peat deposits in South Korea. It is foggy for more than 170 days a year and has a high level of precipitation. The average annual temperature is 12.2 degree Celsius and it has sub-zero temperature for more than 5 months per year. Due to its climate, Yongneup has peat deposits composed of undecomposed plants and this shows how plants have transformed for a few thousand years. On average, peat deposits accumulate at a rate of 0.5–1 mm per year; Yongneup's deepest peat deposit is 1.5 m deep.