Gangwon Yangyang-gun Shares 'Love Firewood' Made from Forest Thinning Byproducts

150 Tons of Firewood Delivered to 59 Low-Income Households by the 22nd for Heating Use

Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province Yangyang-gun (Governor Kim Jin-ha) announced on the 15th that it plans to deliver about 150 tons of firewood processed from forest by-products generated at this year's forest thinning project sites to 59 low-income households within Yangyang-gun by the 22nd of this month.

Yangyang-gun, Gangwon-do plans to process forest by-products generated from this year's forest thinning projects into firewood for heating and deliver approximately 150 tons of firewood to 59 low-income households within Yangyang-gun by the 22nd of this month. Photo by Yangyang-gun Office

The forest thinning project is a program that helps artificial plantations or natural forests grow healthily and robustly. When thinning out poorly growing, crooked, or aged trees, a considerable amount of forest by-products is generated.

In the case of Yangyang-gun, this year, forest thinning projects such as wildfire prevention forest thinning, public forest management, and thinning were carried out on 538 hectares of forest within the jurisdiction, collecting about 2,200㎥ of forest by-products so far.

Among the collected forest by-products, those that do not meet the standards or quality and have no value as timber resources are recycled into wood pellets and other products. Additionally, some usable by-products such as logs are processed appropriately at the forest product processing center and delivered annually as firewood for heating to socially marginalized groups such as elderly living alone and low-income households.

A Yangyang-gun official stated, “Through the forest thinning project, we are enhancing the economic value of forests and reducing the heating cost burden for neighbors in need by recycling forest by-products,” adding, “We will continue to make efforts to increase the utilization value of forests.”