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US$61 billion as of 2008, which is 15 times its economic value. Key
evaluation elements of public value are water storage enhancement,
air quality improvement, erosion control and forest recreation.
Other key factors include water quality improvement, landslide
prevention and wildlife protection. Notably, public demand for
recreational and healing functions is increasing due to population
ageing, demographic changes and improved national income.
Recreation and mountaineering
– Along with the increasing
public demand for quality of life, recreational activities in forests
are becoming more popular, evidenced by the growing number of
forest visitors. Since 1988, the recreation forest project has been
implemented to meet the public demand for forest recreation. As
of 2009, 133 recreation forests are in operation. To enable visi-
tors to enjoy nature as much as possible, the recreation forests
are equipped with eco-friendly facilities to a standard unlike
other outdoor recreation places. Visitors can spend quality time
walking through forests and enjoying ‘forest-bathing’ and the
natural surroundings. Moreover, diverse environmental education
programmes are provided to give visitors a better understanding of
forests and nature. The KFS implements various mountaineering
policies for creating and maintaining hiking trails and operates
mountaineering schools to ensure forest visitors and mountaineers
can enjoy themselves safely.
Therapy forests
– Korean society is ageing, having been indus-
trialized and modernized at a rapid pace. There is a resulting
tendency for environmental diseases, chronic illness and senile
diseases to increase. It is said that conventional treatments for
those diseases are rather limited, so it draws more attention to
natural treatment. Forests are believed to have a wide range of
natural elements good for health, such as phytoncide, anions,
comforting scenery and natural soils. The KFS has created therapy
forests in order to promote nature’s healing power and improve
public health. They are now in operation, equipped with simple
sports facilities, visitor centres, meditation spaces, rest areas and
healing forest trails. There is a ‘model’ therapy forest in the Saneum
recreation forest in Gyeonggi Province, and more therapy forests
are planned by local governments.
International forestry cooperation
The Republic of Korea is willingly disseminating its forest technol-
ogies and valuable experience from successful forest rehabilitation
projects which have been internationally recognized. It continues
to take part in cooperation projects in those countries suffering
from forest degradation and desertification, building a bridge
between developed and developing countries. Therefore, Korea
can make advances in sustainable development as a green growth
model nation.
As the first Asian country, Korea successfully hosted the
tenth session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations
Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 10) in
October 2011. The COP 10 is evaluated as a landmark in the
UNCCD history in many respects including the achievement of
significant progress on key topics and bringing a new dynamic to
the UNCCD process. One of the major achievements is that the
Changwon Initiative, proposed by the Korea Forest Service at the
High-Level Segment of the COP 10, was welcomed and success-
fully endorsed by the country parties. The Changwon Initiative
aims to complement the UNCCD and the 10 year strategic plan
and framework to enhance the implementation of the Convention
(2008-2018), serving as a stimulant to breathing new
life into the UNCCD process. Main components of
the Changwon Initiative include: 1) enhancing the
scientific process of the UNCCD, 2) mobilizing
additional resources and facilitating partnership
arrangements and 3) supporting a global framework
for the promotion of best practices through organiza-
tion of the Land for Life Award.
Support projects and desertification prevention projects
for developing countries
– The Korea Forest Service
has been implementing forest projects which built
on Korea’s bilateral cooperation on forestry: planta-
tion projects to combat desertification in China and
Mongolia; the mangrove rehabilitation project and the
tree improvement and nursery project in Indonesia; and
the forest rehabilitation project of arid regions in central
Myanmar. Further, the KFS has been facilitating sharing
of forest rehabilitation and management technologies
through training programmes, inviting 553 partici-
pants from 56 countries including Indonesia, China
and Mongolia, since 1984.
Establishment of AFoCO
– The Asian Forest
Cooperation Organization (AFoCO) proposed by
Korea is in the process of establishment with the view
of addressing climate change and combating desertifi-
cation in Asia. It aims to manage and conserve forests
in an ecologically sound, eco-friendly and economi-
cally feasible way. Korea makes its continuing efforts
to launch the AFoCO among the Republic of Korea
and ten ASEAN member countries in 2011, and to
extend the membership to other Asian regions in the
near future.
Cooperation with the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea (DPRK)
– Forests in the DPRK have been deteri-
orating due to excessive cutting and overexploitation of
forest resources, especially for fuel, which causes food
shortage. Such environmental problems in North Korea
are likely to cause negative impacts to forest ecosys-
tem and water systems of the entire peninsula in the
long run. The KFS is undertaking diverse endeavours
to restore degraded forests in North Korea and carry
out phase-in activities of forest rehabilitation in coop-
eration with FAO in the pursuit of realizing a ‘Green
Korea’. It supports North Korea’s forest rehabilitation
in line with securing carbon credits and responding to
climate change.
The Republic of Korea was severely affected by the
impacts of forest degradation and unsustainable forest
management, but with significant effort and invest-
ment has reversed degraded forests into sustainable
forests. We have successfully managed to re-green
degraded forests with National Forest Plans.
Acknowledging that forests with valuable benefits
and services can be a key solution to poverty eradica-
tion and environmental issues in developing countries,
Korea continues to share its proven practices of forest
restoration and sustainable forest management, which
can help developing countries build their capacity
toward sustainable development.