Choi Byeong-am, Korea Forest Service Chief, Makes 'First' Visit to Sinan-gun

Docho Paengnamu 10-ri Road, Jaeun Fine Dust Blocking Forest, Admiring the Achievements of Urban Forests

Choi Byung-am, the Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service, visited the Dochon Zelkova 10-ri Road and Jaeun Fine Dust Blocking Forest. ⓒ Asia Economy

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Seo Young-seo] Sinan-gun, Jeollanam-do recently received the Excellence Award (2nd place nationwide) in the street tree category at the ‘2021 Green City Best Practices’ contest hosted by the Korea Forest Service, gaining attention as a standard model for urban forest creation. On the 22nd, Choi Byung-am, head of the Korea Forest Service, visited the Dochodo Pangnamu 10-ri Road and Jaeun fine dust blocking forest.

This field visit followed a request from Sinan-gun Governor Park Woo-ryang, who visited the Korea Forest Service in August to propose projects related to the promotion and support of garden culture, including the world’s largest island national garden and the creation of the 1004 Islands blooming with flowers all year round, as well as directions for fostering the forest industry. Despite the vulnerable geographical conditions of the island areas, Sinan-gun has achieved the greatest results in the forest industry and recreation sectors, prompting the visit request.

The head of the Korea Forest Service inspected the ‘Dochodo Pangnamu 10-ri Road,’ an unprecedented premium street tree road created by receiving donations of Pangnamu trees aged 60 to 100 years from all over the country. It was the first time a county-level area nationwide was selected for the Excellence Award in the street tree category. He expressed that “it is touching to have achieved a miraculous feat despite the difficult conditions of being an island.”

Additionally, the Sinan fine dust blocking forest was established on idle land around the waste incineration plant in Baeksan-ri, Jaeun, to prevent various harmful substances and fine dust generated from the incineration plant from entering residential areas. Director Choi encouraged the project, saying, “They created 7 hectares compared to the 3 hectares applied for, saving budget and achieving excellent results with solid development.”

The Korea Forest Service, which has specified strengthening the carbon absorption function of forests in its long-term low-carbon development strategy, is expanding urban forest functions such as fine dust blocking forests and urban wind path forests to achieve carbon neutrality by planting 3 billion trees by 2050.

Governor Park Woo-ryang said, “I deeply thank Choi Byung-am, head of the Korea Forest Service, for visiting the 1004 Islands Sinan-gun blooming with flowers all year round,” and requested, “Please positively consider reflecting fine dust reduction forest policies and actively supporting the creation of an island national garden utilizing Sinan-gun’s outstanding natural scenery and ecological resources in the island areas.”

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