Forest Service, 5 Regions Including Bonghwa, Gyeongbuk, Designated as 'Wood-Friendly Cities'

Provided by Korea Forest Service

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Five regions, including Bonghwa in Gyeongbuk, will be developed as ‘Wood-Friendly Cities’.

The Korea Forest Service announced on the 14th that it has finalized the selection of target sites for the ‘2022 Wood-Friendly City Development Project’ through a local government contest.

The selected project sites are ▲Chuncheon, Gangwon ▲Bonghwa, Gyeongbuk ▲Yuseong, Daejeon ▲Gangjin, Jeonnam ▲Muju, Jeonbuk, totaling five regions.

Each of these project sites is expected to receive 5 billion KRW annually (with 50% funded by the national government and 50% by local governments) for four years from this year through 2025.

The project aims to transform the bleak urban environment dominated by concrete into a wood-based one, turning cities into carbon-neutral urban areas.

The core goal is to create urban streets and social infrastructure (SOC) using wood, an eco-friendly carbon-storing material, and to establish regional wood education and cultural foundations such as lifecycle woodworking experience programs.

Key projects include ▲creating wood-specialized streets using local timber ▲promoting wood education and culture through public woodworking experience centers ▲stimulating the local economy by promoting the regional wood industry and creating jobs.

In particular, this project is being promoted in connection with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s Urban Regeneration New Deal Project (wood-friendly wood city model). Bonghwa-gun in Gyeongbuk, selected as a target site, plans to implement various wood utilization projects including public wooden architecture.

Kim Yong-gwan, Director of the Forest Industry Policy Bureau at the Korea Forest Service, said, “The Wood-Friendly City Development Project will serve as a catalyst for achieving carbon neutrality in the forestry sector and forming supply chains (value chains) for the regional wood industry.” He added, “To this end, the Korea Forest Service will operate related advisory groups to achieve results that align with the project’s objectives.”

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