朝鮮的生態使其成了僅存的珍惜鳥類棲息地

BBC News – Despite being closed to most foreigner visitors, North Korea may ironically be the saviour of one of the world's greatest international migration routes - the avian East Asian Australasian Flyway.

BBC新聞 – 儘管朝鮮對大多數外國遊客閉關鎖國，但頗有諷刺意味的是，它或許成了東亞 – 大洋洲這條世界最重要的國際候鳥遷徙路線的救星。

Fifty million birds, from cranes to song birds, journey along the Flyway twice a year. Eight million of those are shorebirds - or waders. And for many thousands of those, North Korea's west coast - on the Yellow Sea - is their sole stop-off point.

從鶴類到鳴禽的5千萬只鳥兒一年兩次沿着遷徙路線奔波。其中8百萬只是濱鳥 – 或鴴鷸類。對成千上萬只鳥兒來說，黃海海域的朝鮮西海岸是唯一的中途停留點。

In tidal mudflats, species such as the bar-tailed godwit，refuel on worms and molluscs. And the endangered great knots search for small clams.

在潮汐灘塗上，斑尾塍鷸等鳥類靠吃蠕蟲和軟體動物補充體力。瀕危的大濱鷸則搜尋蛤蚌。

North Korea's coast is considered so important because the shorelines of neighbouring nations - China and South Korea - have witnessed rapid and large-scale reclamation projects. Mudflats have been converted to dry land for agriculture and industrial development.

朝鮮的海岸之所以被認爲如此重要，是因爲鄰國中國和韓國的海岸線成了快速的大規模填海工程的地方。灘塗被改造成旱地作爲農業和工業發展用地。

Of the total area of Yellow Sea mudflat habitat which existed 50 years ago, only one third remains - according to shorebird ecology expert Richard Fuller of the University of Queensland, Australia.

根據澳大利亞昆士蘭大學的濱鳥生態專家富勒的說法，50年前存在的黃海灘塗棲息地總面積中，只剩下了三分之一。

North Korea's lack of development - compared to China and South Korea - means the country's mudflats are largely intact. But the conservationists say the birds also benefit from there being fewer river-polluting factories, and lower levels of agricultural fertilisers and pesticides running off the land into the marine environment.

與中國和韓國相比，朝鮮欠發展，這意味着該國的灘塗大部分完好無損。但環保人士說，鳥類還受益於那裏污染河流的工廠較少，從陸地流入海洋環境的農業化肥和農藥水平較低。