Last Year, Short-term Income from Wild Edible Plants Production Amounted to 2.3 Trillion Won... Up 5.5% Compared to Previous Year

Last year's 'Non-timber Forest Products Production Survey Results' data. Provided by the Korea Forest Service

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Last year, the production value of short-term income forest products increased by 5.5% compared to the previous year.

On the 7th, the Korea Forest Service announced the results of the "2022 Forest Product Production Survey." The production survey investigates the production volume and value of 145 items across 14 types of forest products and is prepared to serve as a basis for establishing forestry policies.

According to the survey results, last year's production value of short-term income forest products such as astringent persimmons, chestnuts, jujubes, walnuts, wild vegetables, mushrooms, and medicinal plants amounted to 2.3322 trillion KRW, an increase of 122.5 billion KRW from 2.2097 trillion KRW in 2020.

By region, last year's production value of short-term income forest products was highest in Gyeongsangbuk-do at 544.1 billion KRW, followed by Jeollabuk-do (306.9 billion KRW), Chungcheongnam-do (301.8 billion KRW), and Gangwon-do (290.3 billion KRW).

However, unlike the increase in the production value of short-term income forest products, the total production value of all forest products, including timber growth volume and earth and stone, was 7.1982 trillion KRW last year, a decrease of 1.0873 trillion KRW (13.1%) compared to 2020.

The Korea Forest Service analyzes that this is because, while the production value of fruit and landscaping materials increased due to weather conditions and improvement in the construction market for short-term income forest products, the net timber growth value decreased, resulting in a total production value decline compared to the previous year.

For example, the net timber growth volume for the 5th age class (tree age 41-50 years) decreased from 44 million m³ to 27 million m³ (a 37.7% decrease), and last year's production value also decreased by 31.5% compared to 2020.

Detailed information on the production survey results can be found on the Korea Forest Service website under Forest Statistics.

Kang Dae-ik, Information and Statistics Officer at the Korea Forest Service, said, "It is encouraging that the production value of short-term income forest products increased despite difficult circumstances such as COVID-19," and added, "The Korea Forest Service will continue to produce accurate statistics and provide policy support so that all forestry workers can increase their income through forestry management."

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