An artificial island will be built in Incheon to better protect endangered birds, officials said Sunday.

The Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority said it would construct an 8,900-square-meter-large artificial island in the wetland preservation district in Songdo, Incheon, by late 2018 as part of its efforts to protect internationally endangered bird species. About 5.8 billion won ($5.13 million) will be injected.

The wetland in Songdo has served as a habitat and resting place for birds, especially for spoonbills -- of which only around 2,700 exist. Of them, about 300 lay eggs in the Songdo wetland, officials said.

In July last year, the Switzerland-based Ramsar headquarters designated the 6-square-kilometer-large wetland in Songdo as the 19th Ramsar wetland in Korea -- such a designation is made only if the area is worth preserving for saving the endangered species.

Construction will kick off in August 2017, officials added.

(rene@heraldcorp.com)