Korea Forest Service Explores 'Forest Ecosystem Restoration' Measures for Jirisan Wildfire Damage Area

The Korea Forest Service announced on the 13th that it held an on-site discussion meeting in Uisin Village, Hwagae-myeon, Hadong-gun, Gyeongnam Province, to monitor the forest ecosystem of the Jirisan wildfire damage area.

The area around Hadong-gun, Gyeongnam Province, is an ecologically valuable region including Jirisan National Park and the Baekdudaegan Protected Area, but a large wildfire that occurred on March 11 last year destroyed 129 hectares of forest, equivalent to the size of 180 soccer fields.

Accordingly, the Korea Forest Service prepared a basic plan for forest ecological restoration of the wildfire damage area in January.

Participants of the forum are directly observing the wildfire damage site in Jirisan. Photo by Korea Forest Service

The discussion meeting was held with about 20 participants including local residents of Hadong-gun, civic groups, the Forest Welfare Support Center, and the National Institute of Forest Science. Based on the basic plan for forest ecological restoration prepared earlier this year, they discussed the scope and criteria of monitoring surveys for the wildfire damage area, the survey system, and pest and disease surveillance and control measures.

The Korea Forest Service plans to systematically respond to environmental changes such as vegetation decline and disaster risks through surveys of vegetation and fauna in the Jirisan wildfire damage area and evaluation of natural resilience, and to prepare and utilize management measures for the prompt recovery of the ecosystem.

Heo Nam-cheol, Director of Forest Ecological Restoration at the Korea Forest Service, said, “When natural or artificial damage occurs in protected areas such as Baekdudaegan and natural parks, systematic conservation and restoration plans must be established and implemented.” He added, “The Korea Forest Service will take this discussion meeting as an opportunity to strengthen future monitoring and make every effort to ensure the rapid recovery of the Jirisan forest ecosystem.”