Volunteers line up along the coast during the World Heritage Volunteers Camp. Photo courtesy Global Inner Peace

The World Heritage Volunteers Camp was held in Gimnyeong-ri, Gujwa-eup, July 11 to 20 as participants from Poland, Turkey, Russia and Taiwan joined domestic participants in village volunteer projects related to conservation and education.

Photo courtesy Global Inner Peace

Hosted by the UNESCO World Heritage Center in France, over 200 such camps have been held in 46 countries over the last eight years to promote World Heritage sites.

Gimnyeong is known as the “village above the caves” and the volunteer activities included touring World Natural Heritage site Manjanggul Cave and maintenance along the Gimnyeong-Woljeong GeoTrail with Jeju Geopark and the Jeju Tourism Organization.

On July 15, the team held an awareness-raising event at Jeju City Hall to increase local interest in heritage sites and Jeju’s traditional stonewalls, “batdam,” which were recently designated Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Photo courtesy Global Inner Peace

A four-day outreach event to conserve the environment and local heritage was held from July 16 in local schools. The program was praised by students, parents and village leader Im Sung-Man who praised participants for increasing local pride in their own natural heritage.

There was also a special presentation by Moira Saltzman on the Jeju language. Saltzman, a Fulbright scholar, introduced her research in Jeju and Osaka, and impressed on students the scientific and social importance of language documentation.

The event was joint-organized by local international NGO Global Inner Peace and founder Koh Eun-Kyoung said she took heart from such a diverse group from around the world joining for the 10 days.

“It has also enabled local children in Gimnyeong to recognize the local and international need to preserve the heritage around their village,” said Koh, adding that she hopes the students will share what they have learned and become more active in conservation.

The camp was also organized by CCIVS (Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service), IWO (International Workcamp Organization) and was sponsored by Jeju Tourism Organization.

Volunteers show their awareness-raising work on Jeju's lava tubes. Photo courtesy Global Inner Peace

Photo courtesy Global Inner Peace