Forest Service Acquires Private Forests 20 Times the Size of Yeouido... National Forests Account for 26% of Total Forest Area

The photo is unrelated to the article. Source=Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The government plans to purchase private forests amounting to 20 times the area of Yeouido this year. As of the end of 2018, the proportion of national forests (1.64 million hectares) in the total forest area in South Korea was 25.9%, and the government is increasing the share of national forests every year.

The Korea Forest Service announced on the 30th that it will spend 53.9 billion KRW this year to purchase 5,510 hectares of private forests.

The purchase of private forests will prioritize forests located within planned national forest expansion areas, forests adjacent to or surrounding national forests, forests necessary for the management and operation of national forests, and areas where development activities are restricted by related laws such as Baekdudaegan protection areas, forest protection zones, buffer zones of the National Arboretum, and Jeju Gotjawal.

The Korea Forest Service accepts purchase applications year-round through the national forest management offices corresponding to the location of the private forests. The purchase price is determined by the arithmetic average of appraisals from two certified appraisers. Among them, one appraisal institution can be recommended by the forest owner selling the forest.

Purchased private forests will be utilized as national forest policy spaces through management and operation according to the Korea Forest Service’s forest function-specific management plans, including forest ecosystem conservation, promotion of forest recreation, and forest resource development.

Kang Dae-seok, Director of National Forest Management, said, “According to the ‘2nd National Forest Expansion Plan (2019?2028),’ we plan to expand the national forest area to 28.3% (1.79 million hectares) of the domestic forest area by 2028. Based on this, we will strive to secure various functions of forests and enhance the welfare of the people.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.