Geochang-gun Changpopyeon Registered as Gyeongnam Province's 'Local Garden No.1' ... "Largest Waterside Ecological Park in Korea"

The Third Local Garden in Korea ... Can Be Registered as a 'National Garden' After 3 Years

Geochang Changpoweon in June (Photo by Geochang-gun)

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] Geochang-gun, Gyeongnam announced on the 23rd that Changpowon, located upstream of Hapcheon Dam, has met the standards under the "Act on the Creation and Promotion of Arboretums and Gardens" and has been registered as Gyeongsangnam-do's first local garden.

To register a local garden, it must be a garden created by a local government, covering an area of at least 10 hectares with more than 40% green space. If there is a dedicated garden management department, convenience facilities such as parking lots and experience facilities, and local garden operation and management ordinances are met, the city or provincial governor can designate and register it.

'Geochang Changpowon' is a representative waterside ecological park developed mainly with Iris laevigata, which combines the beauty of flowers and water purification functions, after being selected for projects by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism from 2011 to 2017, with an investment of 23.9 billion KRW.

Geochang Changpowon operates four-season tourism programs, serves as an ecological experience education site for elementary school students in the province through the Gyeongsangnam-do Environmental Education Institute, and participates in various programs such as the wetland network conducted by the Gyeongsangnam-do Ramsar Environmental Foundation.

The area registered as a local garden this time is 217,475㎡. Although it is part of Geochang Changpowon, it is expected to become the best waterside ecological park tourist destination in Korea with a total area of 1,139,273㎡ once the waterside ecological resource development project, a Ministry of Environment contest project, and the 2nd Changpowon development project being implemented by the Busan Regional Land Management Office are completed.

Currently, there are three local gardens nationwide: Geochang Changpowon in Geochang, Gyeongnam; Semiwon in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi; and Juknokwon in Damyang, Jeonnam. After three years from local garden registration, if the requirements are met, it can be registered as a national garden.

Gu In-mo, the mayor of Geochang-gun, stated, "We plan to develop and diversify excellent varieties of Iris laevigata, differentiate Geochang Changpowon from other regions through scale expansion, establish it as the largest waterside ecological park in Korea, register it as a national garden, and develop it into a world-class garden by hosting the international Iris expo."