[Interview] Yoodonggyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu, "5 Million Tree Planting as a Model Case of Local Government Proactively Responding to Climate Change"

Seoul's First 5 Million Tree Planting Project Wins Grand Prize at the 6th Korea Healthy City Awards 2021... Achieved 43% of Target by 2027... Will Plant Trees in the North for Future Generations if Inter-Korean Relations Improve

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] “Not only the government but the entire world is now focusing on carbon neutrality. Mapo-gu proudly claims to have proactively responded to this wave of change through the ‘5 Million Tree Planting’ initiative.”

Yoo Dong-gyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu, said, “Since 2019, we have been the first autonomous district in Seoul to launch the 5 Million Tree Planting Project, and we are honored that Mapo-gu was awarded the Grand Prize at the 6th Korea Healthy City Awards in 2021 thanks to this policy. Above all, it was because of the active participation and positive response from the residents,” sharing his thoughts on receiving the award.

The Korea Healthy City Awards is the only domestic healthy city competition that seeks outstanding healthy city cases among 102 member cities of metropolitan and basic local governments affiliated with the Korea Healthy City Partnership (KHCP).

Since August 2018, when the 7th local government administration began, the district has been promoting the ‘1 Million Tree Air Purification Forest Creation’ project, and from 2019 to 2027, it announced a project to plant 5 million trees with a total budget of 158 billion KRW (50.5 billion KRW from the national government, 63.3 billion KRW from the city, and 44.2 billion KRW from the district). This was based on the judgment that tree planting is the most fundamental and basic measure to proactively and actively respond to climate change caused by worsening fine dust, record-breaking heatwaves, and urban heat island effects.

Mayor Yoo recalled, “I thought that whenever there was empty land, we should plant trees to turn Mapo into an air purification forest. At first, there were many concerns about where in Mapo we could find enough land to plant 5 million trees, which is equivalent to the area of 16 soccer fields. But if we can’t plant all 5 million trees in one place, we can plant them little by little in small patches of land. I started with the idea that if there is space for 10 trees, why not plant 20 or 30?”

The district is currently implementing four main strategies for planting 5 million trees: ▲Community Tree Planting ▲Expansion of Street Greenery ▲Expansion of Living Area Greenery ▲Private-led Tree Planting.

Fragrant flowering trees such as climbing roses and lilacs have been planted in village alleys and small leftover lands, while large-scale idle spaces such as railway sides, riversides, and long-term unexecuted park compensation sites are being transformed into living area green spaces.

On June 25, a large-scale tree planting was carried out in the eastern region, supplementing green spaces in areas like Gongdeok-dong, Ahyeon-dong, and Dohwa-dong, where forests and parks are relatively scarce in Mapo. The district also initiated the city’s first ‘living proximity forest creation’ project and is working on creating an indoor vertical garden inside the district office building.

Notably, more than half of the trees planted since 2018 have been planted by the private sector. Among these, the ‘One Household One Tree Care’ program, launched last year for residents, has received considerable positive response. This program allows residents to select and plant a tree that carries their personal stories and commemorates occasions such as births, school admissions, weddings, and promotions, attach name tags, and consistently care for the tree to ensure healthy growth. The district expects that, following this trend, one tree will be planted for every two households, totaling approximately 88,000 trees.

With active cooperation between the public and private sectors, about 2.16 million trees have newly taken root in Mapo, which corresponds to 43% of the target for 2027.

The district estimates that this has reduced fine dust by about 77 tons. In fact, the annual average fine dust concentration (based on Seoul’s daily average air pollution levels) decreased from 42.18㎍/㎥ in 2019 to 36.32㎍/㎥ within a year. Furthermore, the per capita walking-distance park area (as of 2020) is 11.36㎡, the second largest among Seoul’s autonomous districts (Seoul city average is 5.49㎡), establishing Mapo as a true ‘forest zone’ city.

Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun said, “I don’t think it’s necessary to limit tree planting only to Mapo. If inter-Korean relations improve, we could establish sister city relationships with cities in North Korea that have similar conditions to ours and plant trees there as well.” He added, “The clean air from there will blow all the way to Mapo, and that air will be passed down to our future generations.” He concluded, “Ulrich Beck, author of ‘Risk Society,’ described climate change as a ‘liberating catastrophe.’ It means that through crisis, we realize problems and change our path toward a new world. Mapo is now creating a new future. If we participate in making a better world now, not only we but also future generations and the generations after them will be able to live happily in a good climate.”

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