Forests for People

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Korea’s National Forest Plans for

green growth and sustainable development

Chong-ho Park, Director-General of Forest Resources Bureau, Korea Forest Service

he Republic of Korea is a mountainous nation with

forests accounting for 64 per cent of the total land. Today

it boasts beautiful land and rich forests, but forty years

ago the land was denuded. As the result of excess cutting and

exploitation during and in the aftermath of the Japanese occu-

pation and the Korean War, forests were severely devastated.

Moreover, forest degradation was accelerated by unsustainable

forest activities including slash and burn farming. Despite the

then deteriorating conditions, the whole nation and its people

made collective efforts to rehabilitate degraded forests which

consequently have turned into healthy green forests.

Compared to the forest status in 1970, forest resources

have increased today by 11 times, and the growing

stock has risen from 10 to 126 cubic metres. The

public value of the forests has improved dramatically

to around US$61 billion and economic value per year

soared up to US$4.2 billion. Forests are emerging as

the driving force of the nation’s green growth. This

successful forest rehabilitation has been achieved

through sustainable forest management which can be

an exemplary model for those countries suffering from

forest degradation.

Remarkable success in national forest

rehabilitation

The Republic of Korea has made a widely recognized

success in forest rehabilitation in a short period of time.

This achievement is attributed to a strong-willed lead-

ership and government-initiated forest policy on forest

conservation and plantation. Another key element of

this success is the earnest participation and concerted

effort of the Korean people, who were fully aware of

significant potential of forests.

The Government of the Republic of Korea has

designed and implemented ten-year national forest

plans since the 1970s, and is now in progress with its

fifth such plan.

The First National Forest Plan: Forest Rehabilitation

Project (1973-1978)

: In the 1950s, forests were left in

a state of extreme devastation as the result of excess

logging during and after the Japanese occupation and

the Korean War. The growing stock volume per hectare

then was merely six cubic metres, six per cent of the

current figure. With the aim of restoring these devas-

tated forests, the National Forest Plan was established.

After legal and institutional preparations in the 1960s,

the Forest Rehabilitation Project was finally launched

in 1973. The Government declared the Nationwide Tree

Planting period (21 March-20 April) to draw out active

participation from the public. More than one million

hectares of denuded forest were restored with fast

growing tree species through public participation. The

ten-year project was completed four years in advance

of its target.

The Second National Forest Plan: Forest Rehabilitation

Project (1979-1987)

: This plan was devised to establish

large-scale commercial forests that could develop into

The Korean people have participated in forest rehabilitation

Image: Korea Forest Service