[Jeongeup=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Jaegil] Jeongeup City in Jeonbuk announced on the 21st that it will invest a total project cost of 550 million KRW to carry out a "reforestation project of 240,000 trees" over a forest area of 86 hectares to improve air quality, including fine dust reduction.
The reforestation project refers to activities that plant trees to create valuable forest resources in order to enhance the economic and public value of forests.
When forest owners who own woodland reach the time to harvest timber and wish to renew tree species with timber production trees designated by the Korea Forest Service, the city plants trees for them, and in this case, the forest owners only bear 10% of the reforestation cost.
The main projects to be promoted this time include 72 hectares of economic forest for producing and supplying high-quality timber, 10 hectares of large tree planting to prevent forest disasters such as landslides and forest fires, and 4 hectares of reforestation around residential areas to reduce fine dust.
Tree species for reforestation are primarily selected using the "customized reforestation map" provided by the Korea Forest Service to match their functions, and the opinions of private forest owners are accepted in the selection process.
In particular, tree species for fine dust reduction are selected as large trees with high fine dust blocking and adsorption functions recommended by the National Institute of Forest Science.
Once the reforestation project is completed, it will not only conserve the ecosystem but also perform the function of removing fine dust and residual pollutants from industrialization.
The city expects the project to play an invisible gatekeeper role in preventing landslides, conserving water sources, and increasing forest owners' income.
A city official said, "Planting and nurturing trees in the mountains is a very valuable act as a policy for fostering sustainable forest resources and conserving the natural environment," adding, "We will do our best to create healthy forests through continuous forest management projects."
Meanwhile, it is known that one square meter of forest absorbs 16.8g of air pollutants, one tree reduces 35.7g of fine dust annually, urban forests reduce fine dust concentration by an average of 25.6%, and ultrafine dust concentration by an average of 40.9%.
Jeongeup=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Jaegil gjg7070@asiae.co.kr
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
