There are many ways in which a country can protect nature in its territory. One of them is having National Parks. National Parks protects natural scenery, historic sites and rare animals and plants. In Australia, Phillip Island thoroughly applies this concept to protect its natural scenery and landscape.
Phillip Island was not originally a residential land. It was discovered by the Aborigine, natives of Australia, and they traveled continuously for simple gathering and hunting rather than living. It was first known in Europe in 1798 when discovered it Englishman George Bass. Since 1870, the development of land, such as hotels, ferry services and golf courses, has been carried out on Phillip Island. In the 1920s, 774 houses were allocated to civilians. At that time there was one tour, which was to see Little Penguins. As the tour became more popular, Little Penguin became the landmark of Phillip Island. But over the next three decades, nature has been rapidly damaged and the Little Penguin was on the verge of extinction.
In 1955, the Australian government began conservation of nature. The government determined that the development of the land and the tourism business had a profound impact on the environmental destruction of Phillip Island. So the Penguin Research Institute and the Penguin Management Committee were organized by the government. In 1985, the government announced plans to buyback Phillip Island to protect penguins and nature and for scientific research. In 1996, Phillip Island National Park was founded by the Victorian Government. In order to raise research and protection costs, they developed a tourist attraction called ‘Penguin Parade’. As a result, the buyback of the Phillip Island region in 2010 has been completed and the reconstruction and restoration program of the penguin habitat continues.
I visited the Penguin Parade this summer. The Penguin Parade is an event where people can see the return of the wild penguins. You can see the penguins that pass through the darkness and return home. And the most interesting thing is that the cost of a ticketto the Penguin Parade is a value that can be used to build an artificial house for penguins who do not have a home yet. In Korea, there is a similar effort to protect the half moon bear. During the Japanese colonial period, many moon bears were killed. Currently there are only about 50 remaining. The government has imported bears with the same genotype as the Korean halfbreed bears from northeastern China and North Korea, and set them free in Jirisan mountain. In this way, animal conservation projects are underway. We must constantly strive to protect nature. The nature we see and feel at present may not be forever. But if our attitudes and perceptions change, we can slow it down or stop it.
