[Square] Baekdudaegan Mountain Range Connectivity Network Conservation Must Be Strengthened

Nam Taeheon, Deputy Director of the Korea Forest Service. Photo by Korea Forest Service

Since ancient times, Korea has perceived its land as an organism where mountains and rivers harmoniously coexist in an orderly manner, explaining the principles of all mountain ranges through the relationship between mountains and water. In particular, the fundamental principle of mountains and water has been that "mountains divide water, and water does not cross mountains," known as Sanjabon-suryeong (山自分水領).

In the San-gyeong-pyo (山徑表), a representative geography book of the Joseon Dynasty by Yeoram Shin Gyeong-jun, it is described that "the mountain ranges of the Korean Peninsula consist of one Daegan (main ridge), one Jeonggan (secondary ridge), and thirteen Jeongmaek (branch ridges), totaling fifteen mountain ranges, which serve as the lifelines supplying water to ten major rivers."

Among these, Baekdudaegan (白頭大幹) refers to the mountain range that starts from Baekdu Mountain and extends to Jirisan Mountain, passing through Geumgangsan, Seoraksan, Taebaeksan, and Songnisan without crossing valleys or rivers, following only the main ridges.

With 63% of the national territory covered by forests, Korea offers views of mountains everywhere, and among them, Baekdudaegan, the backbone of the country, connects cities, rural villages, and coasts through its mountain ridges, enhancing its importance.

Furthermore, Baekdudaegan provides habitats and corridors for numerous wild animals and plants, serving as a source of biodiversity and has long been a core space of the Korean Peninsula's ecosystem.

However, Baekdudaegan suffered damage during the Japanese colonial exploitation and the Korean War, and since the 1970s, rapid economic growth accompanied by road, dam, factory, and resource extraction projects has led to the degradation of ridges and ecosystems.

In response, the Korea Forest Service enacted the "Baekdudaegan Protection Act" in 2003 to conserve Baekdudaegan and restrict development activities. By gathering opinions from various stakeholders, including civic groups, the agency has been steadily strengthening policies for the conservation and restoration of Baekdudaegan.

Going forward, the Korea Forest Service plans to focus on economic forest management as a carbon sink to address the climate crisis and strengthen the national forest protection management system to preserve the ecological value of Korean forests.

To this end, it will first introduce a connectivity system linking national mountain ridges, regional mountain ridges, and local mountain ridge networks, enhancing connectivity. The mountain ridge system will be linked with the current forest management permit system for conservation forests and quasi-conservation forests to ensure effective protection of designated areas.

Additionally, by 2025, after consultations with local residents, the protected area of Baekdudaegan will be expanded to 300,000 hectares (100 times the size of Yeouido), and institutional measures such as income support and compensation for losses to local residents will be established to increase acceptance.

In particular, to respond to the climate crisis, the biodiversity within protected areas such as Baekdudaegan will be conserved, and continuous surveys on changes in resources within these areas will be conducted to strengthen ecosystem conservation. Based on this, the Korea Forest Service will build an integrated information management system capable of scientifically predicting and responding to ecosystem changes.

Moreover, just as Baekdudaegan is designated and managed as a protected area by law, urgent management measures will be prepared focusing on Jeongmaek ridges with high conservation value. Measures will be taken to ensure that the nine Jeongmaek ridges, for which legal grounds were established last year, are protected in connection with the mountain ridge network like Baekdudaegan. The focus will be on scientifically elucidating the natural, cultural, and social values of these Jeongmaek ridges.

As a result of these efforts, the Korea Forest Service expects that the future Baekdudaegan (and Jeongmaek) will be registered as UNESCO Biosphere Reserves and World Cultural Heritage sites, serving as a main axis connecting the south and north of the Korean Peninsula and linking ecological networks of protected areas across Northeast Asia.