'One Year of Waiting' Brings Fruitful Success to the World Forestry Congress

On the 2nd, Choi Byung-am, the Administrator of the Korea Forest Service, delivered a welcome address to the attendees of the 15th World Forestry Congress. Photo by Korea Forest Service

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] On the 2nd, the Korea Forest Service opened the grand finale of the 15th World Forestry Congress at COEX in Seoul. It has been a year since the event schedule was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Originally, the Forestry Congress was scheduled to be held in May last year. However, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) proposed postponing the schedule due to concerns about the global spread of COVID-19 at the time, and after much deliberation, the Korea Forest Service accepted the proposal, resulting in the final postponement of the event.

"Crisis is an opportunity." Although the waiting period was extended, the Korea Forest Service, which has been preparing for the Forestry Congress, felt greater anticipation and pride than for any other event. There is also an evaluation that the internal unity to "turn the unexpectedly extended preparation period into an opportunity" led to solidifying the foundation for hosting the Forestry Congress.

One of the achievements that the Korea Forest Service can boast about is that the Seoul Forestry Congress recorded the largest number of participants in history. For example, while the 13th Forestry Congress had about 7,000 participants and the 14th had about 4,000, the Seoul Forestry Congress was attended by approximately 12,500 people, making the event shine.

The Korea Forest Service will hold the "15th World Forestry Congress" under the theme "Creating a Green and Healthy Future with Forests" from the 2nd to the 6th at COEX in Seoul. Photo by Korea Forest Service

Above all, the Seoul Forestry Congress features 33 ministerial-level officials and 10 heads of international organizations participating in key sessions such as the opening ceremony and high-level dialogues, delivering keynote speeches. According to the Korea Forest Service, this is the largest scale of high-level attendance among all previous host countries of the Forestry Congress.

Choi Byung-am, Administrator of the Korea Forest Service, said, "Among the pre-registered participants for the Seoul Forestry Congress, there are about 2,000 overseas participants from 143 countries, which is more than expected despite the difficult conditions caused by COVID-19. The number of domestic pre-registrants is about 5,300, and we expect it to be a grand event where all domestic forestry sector workers participate and share their opinions on forestry."

Considering that the COVID-19 pandemic had been rampant until recently, the fact that more participants gathered at the Seoul Forestry Congress than usual carries even greater significance.

Regarding this, Administrator Choi explained, "It is true that we faced many difficulties securing overseas participants due to the spread of COVID-19 during the preparation period for the Seoul Forestry Congress. However, by widely promoting the Seoul Forestry Congress through major overseas media such as the New York Times Square and London Piccadilly billboards, CNN, and BBC, and actively informing the world that quarantine is exempted for recent overseas vaccinated individuals, we were able to attract more overseas participants."

History of the World Forestry Congress. Provided by the Korea Forest Service

In particular, Administrator Choi emphasized, "Above all, the Seoul Forestry Congress holds greater significance as it is the first Forestry Congress held in the Asian region in 44 years since Indonesia in 1978, and it may be the first and last time hosted domestically."

The Forestry Congress has been held every six years since its first event in Italy in 1926. However, according to Administrator Choi, the Asian region has hosted the Forestry Congress only three times: India (1954, 4th Congress), Indonesia (1978, 8th Congress), and now South Korea. Moreover, no country has hosted the Forestry Congress more than twice to date.

Administrator Choi said, "In addition to the significance of hosting the Seoul Forestry Congress, the Korea Forest Service will strive to lead global forestry issues among forestry officials from various countries during the Congress period and to solidify Korea's position as an advanced forestry nation. To that end, I ask more citizens to take interest and participate in this Forestry Congress."