Chungnam Creates 'Bee Forage Forest' Covering Area Equivalent to 4,700 Soccer Fields

Photo by Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Chungnam Province has created a “bee forage forest (milwon forest)” covering an area equivalent to 4,700 soccer fields and completed the planting of 8 million forage trees in the forest.

Forage trees are trees that provide food for honeybees and have recently attracted attention as a solution to the social issue of disappearing bees.

The province announced on the 27th that it has completed the first phase (2018?2022) of the milwon forest creation and cultivation project, exceeding the original goal by 131%.

The creation of the milwon forest is being promoted to support local beekeeping farms struggling due to the decline of forage sources and climate change, and to maintain the soundness of the natural ecosystem mediated by honeybees.

From 2018 to this year, the province carried out the first phase project and completed the creation of milwon forests covering a total area of 33,799,000㎡. This is equivalent to the area of 4,733 soccer fields (7,140㎡ each) and 31% larger than the initially targeted 25,790,000㎡.

The annual areas created are ▲5,473,000㎡ in 2018 ▲5,759,000㎡ in 2019 ▲7,987,000㎡ in 2020 ▲7,560,000㎡ in 2021 ▲7,020,000㎡ this year.

By city and county, Geumsan has the largest milwon forest area at 6,096,000㎡, followed by Gongju (3,872,000㎡), Nonsan (2,946,000㎡), Buyeo (2,779,000㎡), and Cheongyang (2,518,000㎡).

The number of trees planted in the milwon forest has also increased every year. By year, ▲1,339,700 trees in 2018 ▲1,908,000 trees in 2019 ▲1,902,000 trees in 2020 ▲1,804,700 trees in 2021 ▲1,536,500 trees this year were planted in Chungnam.

By species, 3,384,500 Magnolia trees (12,120,000㎡), 2,286,900 Hovenia trees (8,024,000㎡), 874,400 lacquer trees (4,993,000㎡), and 85,900 chestnut trees (1,907,000㎡) were planted annually.

Next, the province plans to additionally create 29,050,000㎡ of milwon forest in the region from next year until 2027 as the second phase project.

An official from the province said, “The milwon forest creation project is one of the clues to solving the bee disappearance issue,” adding, “Chungnam is meaningful in that it started milwon forest creation and forage tree planting earlier than other regions.”

He also added, “The province will continue to support the revitalization of the beekeeping industry by diversifying honey-harvesting tree species and continuously expand the foundation for economic forest cultivation.”

Meanwhile, as of 2020, there are 2,400 beekeeping households in the province, accounting for 9.1% of the nationwide 27,400 households. In the same year, about 10,000 tons of honey were produced in Chungnam, and the production value calculated based on this was estimated at 208 billion KRW.

Honeybees are responsible for over 70% of the world’s fruit and vegetable pollination and are known to provide an economic value of 50 trillion KRW annually to humans.

On the other hand, experts are concerned that the ecosystem itself is being shaken as bees have recently been unable to properly carry out honey-harvesting activities.

They cite causes of mass death and disappearance of honeybees such as diseases and pests including sacbrood virus, abnormal climate, pesticide use, air pollution, and reduction of forage trees.

Countermeasures proposed include restoration and diversification of forage trees, development of bee breeds, and promotion of urban beekeeping.

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