Tackling North Korea's forest degradation together
- 6 years ago
As we heard there,... officials from South and North Korea sat down on Wednesday to discuss forestation projects in the North.
North Korea's forest degradation is a serious issue... and environmentalists say the problem should be addressed as quickly as possible.
Taking a look at the scale of the problem and road ahead is our Cha Sang-mi.
With so much cooperation on various fronts now, the two Koreas are looking at restoring the forests the North has lost.
They've been decimated in the past few decades.
"Well, we think that from 1990 on, almost 40% of the forest cover of North Korea either disappeared or degraded severely, so that we can speak now for serious crisis of deforestation leading to soil erosion, flooding, problems with water management and lower harvests."
To tackle this pressing issue, delegations from Seoul and Pyongyang met on Wednesday to discuss the details of joint forestation projects in the North, which have been degraded by over-logging and farming.
When it comes to forest degradation in general, an expert says there are many different reasons for it, and the consequences, he says, are scary.
"Research shows the over-use of land is the main reason. Some of the ways are intense farming, the use of large amounts of fertilizer and forest reclamation. If this continues for a long time, nature's ability to restore the forests fails, and it becomes very difficult."
When it comes to forest restoration in North Korea, the expert says first will come research and joint studies.
It's necessary to define the tree species and measure the exact areas where there's damage.
Based on that research, they can make plans.
They will need to defined zones... because the restoration process defers for each region. The climate ranges from temperate to subtropical, and alpine in the North.
Next comes implementation.
In this stage, the first step is to plant saplings, but North Korea might lack the infrastructure for this. It will require technical support and know-how from experienced South Korean government agencies and institutions.
Although the scheme looks simple, experts say the North Koreans have devised a ten-year plan to grow new forests.
Even school children are mobilized to go plant new trees or water plants.
"We think maybe that's just for the beauty of it, but it's much more a pressing issue and to give you one example, (cut) The big flooding came and a complete village disappeared and it is related to there was no sufficient tree cover. So the landslides came down, and killed probably several dozens or maybe many hundred people there. So this is an issue of life and death for them."
Yet when it comes to developing the Korean Peninsula, the expert says finding a balance is key -- a balance between making life more comfortable and preserving the habitats of plants and animals.
Cha Sang-mi, Arirang News.
North Korea's forest degradation is a serious issue... and environmentalists say the problem should be addressed as quickly as possible.
Taking a look at the scale of the problem and road ahead is our Cha Sang-mi.
With so much cooperation on various fronts now, the two Koreas are looking at restoring the forests the North has lost.
They've been decimated in the past few decades.
"Well, we think that from 1990 on, almost 40% of the forest cover of North Korea either disappeared or degraded severely, so that we can speak now for serious crisis of deforestation leading to soil erosion, flooding, problems with water management and lower harvests."
To tackle this pressing issue, delegations from Seoul and Pyongyang met on Wednesday to discuss the details of joint forestation projects in the North, which have been degraded by over-logging and farming.
When it comes to forest degradation in general, an expert says there are many different reasons for it, and the consequences, he says, are scary.
"Research shows the over-use of land is the main reason. Some of the ways are intense farming, the use of large amounts of fertilizer and forest reclamation. If this continues for a long time, nature's ability to restore the forests fails, and it becomes very difficult."
When it comes to forest restoration in North Korea, the expert says first will come research and joint studies.
It's necessary to define the tree species and measure the exact areas where there's damage.
Based on that research, they can make plans.
They will need to defined zones... because the restoration process defers for each region. The climate ranges from temperate to subtropical, and alpine in the North.
Next comes implementation.
In this stage, the first step is to plant saplings, but North Korea might lack the infrastructure for this. It will require technical support and know-how from experienced South Korean government agencies and institutions.
Although the scheme looks simple, experts say the North Koreans have devised a ten-year plan to grow new forests.
Even school children are mobilized to go plant new trees or water plants.
"We think maybe that's just for the beauty of it, but it's much more a pressing issue and to give you one example, (cut) The big flooding came and a complete village disappeared and it is related to there was no sufficient tree cover. So the landslides came down, and killed probably several dozens or maybe many hundred people there. So this is an issue of life and death for them."
Yet when it comes to developing the Korean Peninsula, the expert says finding a balance is key -- a balance between making life more comfortable and preserving the habitats of plants and animals.
Cha Sang-mi, Arirang News.