Hanon Crater is the largest crater with a diameter of more than 1km and the only maar type crater in the Korean Peninsula. It is like a ‘time capsule of the Earth’s environment’, preserving the invaluable scientific information that reveals the process of the Earth’s climatic and ecological environmental changes over the past 5 million years. However, the value of the crater has been unattended and the crater itself has been damaged and neglected. About 550 years ago, as people tore down the wall of the crater to use the crater as farmland, the crater lake disappeared. In recent years, damage has been done to the crater under the threat of development without thought for the environment. This study verifies the climate and environmental value of Hanon Crater and the value of the maar lake sedimentary layers of the crater as a key national asset and the necessity of its reatoration as presented in the recommendations of the 2012 WCC and provides supportable reasons for making the restoration project as a national one in conjunction with IUCN and the international community. In particular, this study, in which the Commission on Ecosystem Management of IUCN also participated, suggests the objectives, strategies and alternatives in restoring the crater wall, lake, and vegetation based on Ecological Restoration for Protected Areas: Principles, Guidelines and Best Practices (Keenleyside et al., 2012) and ways to utilize the cater as a national resource after the restoration such as establishing a center for studying ancient organisms and climate and setting up a maar museum.”

Antioxidants partially ameliorated the detrimental effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS) on sperm characteristics during in vitro storage. The objective of the present study was to investigate the single or synergetic antioxidative effect of curcumin and Vit. E on the characteristics of fresh boar sperm during in vitro storage. The sperm viability in curcumin, Vit. E supplementation and curcumin+Vit. E+H2O2 groups remained over 85.0% in 3 hr incubation period, but in 6 hr incubation period, curcumin+Vit. E+H2O2 groups was sharply dropped than those of curcumin and Vit. E group. The membrane intergrity in all evaluated groups except for H2O2 group did not significantly difference in 3 hr incubation period. The viability in curcumin or Vit. E supplementation were significantly increased than in curcumin+H2O2 and Vit. E+H2O2 group in 6 hr incubation period. The percentage of mitochondrial activity and acrosome intergrity obtained similar trends within same incubation periods irrespective of treatment. The lipid peroxidation of spermatozoal plasma membrane ranged from 11.6∼17.5 nM/l×106 and 14.0∼ 19.0 nM/l×106 in 3 hr and 6 hr incubation periods. In conclusion, curcumin or Vit. E rpplementation alone or cooperatively improved sperm viability index (motility, membrane intergrity, viability and survival rates) and fertility index (mitochondria activity, acrosome intergrity and lipid peroxidation) of fresh boar sperm, indicating that curcumin and Vit. E have a antioxidative properties through its scavenging activity against hydrogen peroxide.