According to data from the Ministry of Environment in 2014, Korea has decreased forests by 2.1%, farmland by 15.9% and tidal flats by 20.4% over the past 20 years. Accordingly, new policies are being implemented to reflect the conservation of biodiversity. The government is supporting agriculture, forestry, and fisheries to operate in a sustainable way. In particular, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries has a plan to create ‘sea forests’ for coastal ecosystem recovery; the sea forest is 3000ha, which creates spawning and habitats for specialized fish species by sea area and monitors the genetic diversity of released species. The government plans to secure sustainable fishery resources by gradually reducing the Total Allowable Catch (TAC).
South Korea’s National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAP) is a legal strategy for the conservation of biodiversity and sustainable use of its elements, which is established every 5 years and approved by the cabinet. Currently, South Korea is in the process of implementing the 4th NBSAP (2019~2023).
South Korea plans to implement the 4th NBSAP using 5 strategies:
1) Mainstreaming biodiversity
2) Managing threats to biodiversity
3) Strengthening biodiversity conservation
4) Benefit-sharing and sustainable use of biodiversity
5) Laying the groundwork for implementation
To increase public awareness, the government plans to develop a biodiversity education program to reflect it in the school curriculum and to train about 22,000 forest commentators and forest education experts by 2023.
Efforts to provide ecosystem services to the public will continue during this policy period. The government plans to build healthy ecosystem services such as trekking route (olle trail), forest healing spaces, and urban ecological rest spaces as maps so the services can be provided fairly.
The government will also continue efforts to build a data information system by establishing an integrated forest biodiversity information archive and investigating and evaluating biodiversity in national parks. To further strengthen scientific knowledge, residents and NGOs will be asked to help monitor conservation efforts.
In spite of these efforts, the implementation of the 4th National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan has been inadequate. There has been insufficient improvement in South Korea’s overall biodiversity as the government has failed to respond to the shortcomings in ecosystem support services.
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There needs to be greater collaboration between the various ministries responsible for preservation of biodiversity as well as stronger public-private partnerships to help implement Korea’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. Please help coordinate efforts among government agencies and between the government and private sector so that Korea’s biodiverse resources can be adequately protected.
Contact
Minister: Cho Myung-rae
Address: Government Complex-Sejong, 11, Doum 6-Ro, Sejong, 30103, South Korea
Mail: mepr@korea.kr
Website: http://eng.me.go.kr/eng/web/main.do
References:
https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/kr/kr-nbsap-v4-en.pdf
Jeju Olle Trail
https://youtu.be/sRyMTk5Jsyw
Wildlife is flourishing in these demilitarized zones
https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/25/world/wildlife-demilitarized-zones-intl-c2e/index.html
This Post was submitted by Climate Scorecard South Korea Country Manager Ellie Jimin Kim
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