Designating conservation sites is needed for the preservation and management of tidal flats, and also objective criteria, by which preservation values of tidal flats can be evaluated, are required to designate conservation sites. A set of new evaluation criteria for tidal flats was suggested in this study. The criteria, based on six items including scarcity, diversity, naturalness, uniqueness, destruction possibility and preservation will, have the advantages with which easy and economic assessments are possible by using basic data from the preceding studies. The evaluation results for the three different tidal flats (Muan, Jeungdo-1 and Jeungdo-2) in the southwestern coast of Korea reveal that all the tidal flats evaluated are classified into grade 2. The tidal flat which got the highest evaluation score was Jeungdo-1 tidal flat (86.7), and the next was Muan (85.0) and Jeungdo-2 (82.5). The Jeungdo-2 tidal flat was superior in uniqueness and destruction possibility, and the Muan tidal flat was superior in diversity and naturalness.

• 장진호(목포대학교 해양수산자원학과) | Jin Ho Chang Corresponding Author