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新闻 – 尽管朝鲜对大多数外国游客闭关锁国，但颇有讽刺意味的是，它或许成了东亚 – 大洋洲这条世界最重要的国际候鸟迁徙路线的救星。

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.

从鹤类到鸣禽的5千万只鸟儿一年两次沿着迁徙路线奔波。其中8百万只是滨鸟 – 或鸻鹬类。对成千上万只鸟儿来说，黄海海域的朝鲜西海岸是唯一的中途停留点。

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

在潮汐滩涂上，斑尾塍鹬等鸟类靠吃蠕虫和软体动物补充体力。濒危的大滨鹬则搜寻蛤蚌。

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.

朝鲜的海岸之所以被认为如此重要，是因为邻国中国和韩国的海岸线成了快速的大规模填海工程的地方。滩涂被改造成旱地作为农业和工业发展用地。

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.

根据澳大利亚昆士兰大学的滨鸟生态专家富勒的说法，50年前存在的黄海滩涂栖息地总面积中，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.

与中国和韩国相比，朝鲜欠发展，这意味着该国的滩涂大部分完好无损。但环保人士说，鸟类还受益于那里污染河流的工厂较少，从陆地流入海洋环境的农业化肥和农药水平较低。