Pohang City Begins Accepting Applications for 'Forestry and Forest Public Interest Direct Payments' from the 17th

Pohang City will accept applications for the forestry and forest public interest direct payment to compensate forest owners' income and enhance the public value of forests from April 17 to May 19.

2023 Forestry and Forest Public Interest Direct Payment Application Guide.

원본보기 아이콘

The forestry and forest public interest direct payment was first implemented in 2022 to preserve the income of forest owners and improve the public value of forests in the forestry sector, which has significant public value, following the implementation of the agricultural and fishery public interest direct payment system.

There are two types: forest product producers who produce forest products such as jujubes, walnuts, and chestnuts in mountainous areas, and silviculture businesses that manage forests such as afforestation and forest tending with approved forest management plans. Last year, Pohang City paid 400 million KRW to about 100 forest owners.

Eligible applicants are forest workers and agricultural corporations who are actually engaged in forestry in mountainous areas where agricultural management entities (forestry management entities) registered their forest land from April 1, 2019, to September 30, 2022.

Especially this year, ▲ previous year's forestry direct payment recipients must prove at least 90 days of work with a forest management log ▲ forest product producers must prove annual forest product sales of at least 1.2 million KRW ▲ silviculture businesses are only recognized for achievements within the last 10 years prior to the registration application year.

Foresters who wish to apply for the forestry direct payment should fully understand the eligibility requirements and precautions in advance, prepare the forestry direct payment registration application and related documents, and submit them to the administrative welfare center of the town, township, or neighborhood that has jurisdiction over the location of the mountainous area (if there are two or more eligible mountainous areas, the location with the largest area).

The city plans to finalize the payment recipients in June after verifying eligibility requirements, conduct income verification and compliance inspections from July to August, and make payments around October to November.

For more details, please check Pohang City's website or the forestry management entity support portal ‘Forestry-in’.

Lee Chang-jun, Director of the Greenery Division, said, “We hope eligible applicants apply within the deadline to receive the benefits of the forestry direct payment,” and added, “Please be aware that failure to comply with obligations such as maintaining the shape and function of the mountainous area, keeping forest management records, using appropriate amounts of pesticides and fertilizers, and preventing forest disasters will result in reduced payments, so please be careful not to suffer any disadvantages.”

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.