During the cool, rainy months of April and May, 2003, a small band of Buddhist and Catholic devotees made their way from the tidal flats of Saemangeum to the South Korean capital, Seoul – a distance of 195 miles. Their heads bowed in prayer, they took three steps together, then kneeled and bowed their foreheads to the ground. They rose to their knees, then to their feet and took three more steps, kneeled, and repeated the bow. For 65 days they practiced Samboilbae, Three Walking Steps and One Deep Bow, until they reached the capital. Along the way, many Korean citizens and celebrities joined them for hours or days. They arrived in Seoul with a throng of 8,000 supporters carrying banners that read, “Save Our Saemangeum (SOS)!”

At the same time, another amazing journey related to the Samboilbea was underway. Small flocks of Spoon-billed Sandpipers were migrating from Bangladesh to the Saemangeum tidal flats in South Korea, and from there on to northeastern Siberia, a distance of 9,000 miles. These tiny birds measure 6 inches and weigh a mere two ounces. They fit easily into a human hand. Like many shorebirds, their habitat requirements are very specific. During migration, their survival depends on finding tidal flats with some sand, where they can feed on tiny marine animals trapped in tidal puddles. As they move their spatula-shaped bills rapidly side to side over the water’s surface, they look like tiny feathered vacuum cleaners.

After 4,000 miles of flight, the sandpipers reach Saemangeum exhausted and famished – and ready for a feast. Tides sweep in daily from the Yellow Sea, depositing a rich stew of small fish, shellfish and their eggs. For the Spoon-billed Sandpiper and more than 30 other endangered migratory shorebird species, the Saemangeum tidal flats are necessary for survival. The birds stay at Saemangeum for several weeks, resting and bulking up for the second leg of their incredible journeys.

Twelve years ago, the South Korean government began building a sea wall to block the tides at Saemangeum and “reclaim” the mudflats for agriculture or industrial development. Already, coastal construction, development and pollution along its migratory route have reduced the Spoon-billed Sandpiper population to just 1,000 nesting pairs. Ornithologists say that if the 20-mile-long sea wall at Saemangeum is completed, the Spoon-billed Sandpiper will lose its battle for survival.

Over 80 percent of Korean citizens oppose the Saemangeum Reclamation Project, which threatens people as well as birds and other species. Twenty-five thousand Korean families depend for subsistence on this vast expanse of mud. A broad coalition of Korean organizations has come together under the banner “Save Our Saemangeum,” and they have created a very remarkable social movement.

Perhaps the most inspiring quality of that movement is its deep, ecumenical spirituality. In the U.S., environmentalists often find little space for spirituality. Why this should be so is a mystery, given the deeply spiritual writings of preeminent environmentalists like Henry David Thoreau and John Muir. Although many of us understand that our motivation for environmental activism is our spiritual connection with all life, we tend to fight battles for environmental protection in the language of science, litigation, and economics – not soul-speak.

In his book, Spirit Matters, Rabbi Michael Lerner warns that the environmental movement will fail (and unprecedented suffering ensue) unless we acknowledge and proclaim our spiritual calling to protect, nourish, and celebrate all life. To bring spirit (and success) into our work for environmental protection, we have much to learn from the South Korean movement to save Saemangeum. Consider these excerpts from the statement of religious leaders who undertook the arduous Samboilbae march:

“There has been quite a lot of destruction and death for more than ten years here at Saemangeum tidal flat. It is a great battlefield made of human fault and greed….In this hard time, Catholic priest Moon Gyu-hyun, Buddhist monk Soo-gyoung, Christian and Won-buddhism clerics are leaving for the 300-kilometer journey with the most sincere and bold spirits. Along the way, there will be pain and hardships. However, we will save the Saemangeum tidal flat in order to persuade the world to expiate its sins and save life and peace. We will unite all the people who work for the sake of life and peace by this prayer and penance, Samboilbae. We will share the importance of even infinitesimal things, simplicity of practice, and strength of conviction.” Click here for the full statement.

After the 65 days of Three Steps and One Deep Bow, women religious leaders undertook a 10-day walk of continuous prayer for Saemangeum. Children offered a series of community events called “Voices of Lives at Saemangeum,” where they sang and played musical instruments, representing the multitude of lives at Saemangeum threatened by the sea wall: “the singing of nature, the murmur of a stream over a tideland, the whisper of a myriad of clams and the crawl of fine mud.” Three children also filed a lawsuit on behalf of future generations, charging that adults are responsible for protecting the environment for generations to come.

Here in the U.S., the struggle to protect Saemangeum, its people, and its endangered species is being led by Global Response, an international network for environmental action and education. Global Response organizes international letter-writing campaigns to support communities around the world that are struggling to stop environmental destruction. Over the years, Global Response has celebrated victories in an impressive 44 percent of its campaigns. If you ever ask yourself, “Do letters matter?” keep that statistic in mind!

Now Global Response has joined with the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement and Green Korea United to organize an international letter-writing campaign to save Saemangeum. You can read the Global Response action alert and see photos of Three Steps One Deep Bow here. Special versions of the action alert for young people are posted in the Kids and Teens sections.

And tune into BBC World News on Monday, July 7, for “Dike Hard,” an Earth Report on the Saemangeum campaign.

A personal note: Last week, as I was beginning to print the Global Response action alerts for Seamangeum, I received a phone call from one of the South Korean activists with whom I’d been corresponding by email. “What time is it there?” I asked. “2 a.m.,” she said. “Oh, no,” I replied, “are you calling because we need to make changes in the text of the alert?” “No,” she said, “I just wanted to hear the voice of someone who works so hard to help us. I wanted to say thank you.”

Thanks to you, Kim Yeonji, for being so wildly impractical, for having the heart to make a phone call at 2 a.m. to say thanks. It was 10 a.m. my time, but I was the one who woke up.

Paula Palmer is Program Director of Global Response, in Boulder, Colorado. She can be contacted at: paula@globalresponse.org

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