Chungnam Wetlands and Forest Value Nears 80 Trillion Won... "Conservation and Management Support Must Follow"

The economic value of paddy wetlands and forests in Chungnam Province approaches 8 billion KRW, and experts suggest that preservation and management support policies from Chungnam Province must follow to maintain this value.

According to the policy map from the Chungnam Research Institute on the 11th, the economic value of paddy wetlands and forests in Chungnam is estimated at 71 trillion KRW for paddy wetlands and 6 trillion KRW for forests.

This value was calculated by applying the average inflation rate of 2.7% over the past 26 years to the cost of creating the Sihwa Lake wetland in 1997 (460 million KRW/ha) for paddy wetlands (9 million KRW/ha this year*minimum conservation paddy wetlands), and by applying the National Institute of Forest Science’s estimate of the nationwide forest value at 221 trillion KRW (35 million KRW/ha*minimum conservation forest) for forests.

Previously, Chungnam set the minimum conservation paddy wetlands (over 79,000 ha) in 2014 and minimum conservation forests (over 185,000 ha) in 2019. These designate the essential areas of paddy wetlands and forests that must be preserved as the region’s basic landscape and key carbon sinks to prepare for climate change.

However, it has been confirmed that paddy wetlands and forests in Chungnam have decreased annually since then. In fact, paddy wetlands decreased by 11.4% from 173,870 ha in 2012 to 154,060 ha in 2021, and forests decreased by 0.13% from 413,240 ha in 2014 to 411,001 ha in 2017.

Based on this situation, the Chungnam Research Institute urges the province not to stop at setting minimum conservation paddy wetlands and forests in the past but to prepare effective countermeasures.

First, the Chungnam Research Institute proposes applying an ecosystem service payment system to paddy wetlands. Currently, under the “Act on the Conservation and Use of Biodiversity (Article 16),” the ecosystem service payment targets are limited to ▲ecological and landscape conservation areas ▲natural parks ▲wetland protection areas ▲wildlife (special) protection zones ▲biosphere conservation areas and water source protection zones, excluding paddy wetlands from the ecosystem service payment system.

On the other hand, paddy wetlands provide various ecosystem services such as water circulation including drought and flood control, carbon absorption, temperature regulation, food supply, buffering forest damage, and biodiversity retention.

Therefore, the Chungnam Research Institute argues that regional ecosystem service indicators should be established, paddy wetlands evaluated, and those requiring absolute conservation selected and included in the ecosystem service payment system.

As part of forest conservation and management policies, there is a claim that overlapping payments of ecosystem service fees should be made for public-use forest lands (Chungnam’s wide-area forest ecological axis).

Public-use forest lands should be recognized and managed with higher value than private property to sustainably obtain forest ecosystem services. However, unlike forestry households engaged in forestry activities and private forest owners within forest protection zones who began receiving forestry and forest direct payments since last year, most public-use forest land owners have been excluded from direct payment targets.

In this regard, the Chungnam Research Institute insists that basic public interest direct payments should be made to all forests, recognizing the diverse ecosystem services provided by forests and their value in responding to climate change.

Additionally, considering the importance of forest lands and their functional differences from farmland, it suggests revising the name of the “Chungnam Ordinance on Support for Agriculture, Fisheries, and Rural Areas” to the “Chungnam Ordinance on Support for Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, and Rural Areas” to support forestry and mountain villages.

Sagong Jeonghee, senior researcher at the Chungnam Research Institute, said, “To continuously conserve and manage paddy wetlands, it is necessary to establish meaningful regional ecosystem service indicators, evaluate paddy wetlands, select those requiring absolute conservation, and include them in the ecosystem service payment system.”

She added, “Regarding forest ecosystems, it is desirable to discuss measures to allow overlapping payments of ecosystem service fees, recognizing the benefits forests provide and their value in climate change response.”

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