Creation of Fine Dust Reduction Forests in Incheon Seonhak Urban Forest and Songdo Buffer Green Space

Seonhak Urban Forest in Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, and the surrounding Songdo Buffer Greenbelt have been selected as sites for the "2024 Urban Greening Project supported by the Korea Forest Service" for climate-responsive urban forest creation, leading to the establishment of a large-scale urban forest aimed at reducing fine dust.

The climate-responsive urban forest creation project involves establishing urban forests in city areas to protect residents from pollution and disasters such as fine dust and carbon emissions. The Korea Forest Service has been accepting subsidy applications from local governments through demand surveys since May.

Following this selection, Yeonsu-gu plans to create a fine dust reduction forest by 2025 in Seonhak-dong Urban Forest and Songdo Buffer Greenbelt around Songdo-dong Lot 164, receiving 50% of the total 2 billion KRW project cost from national funds and 25% from city funds.

Once the buffer forest is established, it is expected to contribute not only to reducing fine dust inside the urban forest but also to decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by creating barrier forests around pollution sources, reversing fine dust concentration between industrial complexes and residential areas. In fact, a single tree absorbs 35.7g of fine dust annually, and a 10-year-old urban forest covering 1 hectare absorbs an average of 6.9 tons of carbon dioxide per year, with absorption capacity continuing to increase up to 25 years of age.

Songdo Buffer Greenbelt Area
Photo provided by Yeonsu-gu, Incheon

The Seonhak Urban Forest site is currently undergoing a project to create a complex and nature-friendly park environment linked with newly established public offices by 2025, utilizing long-neglected idle land in Seonhak-dong. In the first phase, about 87,000㎡ adjacent to Seunggi Stream will be developed over three years with a budget of 68 billion KRW, including themed flower gardens, a Metasequoia path, walking trails, urban vegetable gardens, garden education centers, and multipurpose lawn plazas.

Additionally, the Songdo Buffer Greenbelt, selected in the new town area, plans to plant more trees in the international buffer greenbelts 5, 6, 7, and 8 by next year, creating a climate-responsive urban forest and a healing spot for residents to reduce fine dust. This area, located between landfill site Block 11 and residential area Block 7, is expected to proactively address fine dust and urban heat island effects through urban forest creation.

Lee Jae-ho, Mayor of Yeonsu-gu, stated, "Urban forests are important carbon sinks that help mitigate urban heat islands and heatwaves," adding, "We will continue to identify neglected idle lands and parks to create environments where green spaces can fully perform their functions."