Korea Forest Service to Purchase Private Forests Equivalent to 14 Times the Size of Yeouido This Year

The Korea Forest Service announced on July 25 that it will purchase 4,162 hectares of privately owned forests this year with a budget of 58.2 billion won. The scale of this purchase is equivalent to 14 times the size of Yeouido.

Provided by Korea Forest Service

The private forest purchase project is being promoted to enhance the public value of forests by having the state acquire privately owned forests that are not being managed for forestry purposes but are simply held by individuals, and then managing them for forestry projects and other purposes.

The forests eligible for purchase are those within the national forest expansion zones that are deemed necessary for the management and operation of national forests. These include economic forest complexes, areas adjacent to national forests, forest protection zones designated by forest-related laws, and Baekdudaegan protected areas.

The Korea Forest Service plans to incorporate the acquired private forests into national forests and utilize them to enhance economic and public values, such as sustainable forest management, forest ecosystem conservation, disaster prevention, and the provision of forest welfare services.

Further details regarding the private forest purchase project can be found in the announcement posted on the Korea Forest Service website.

Park Eunsik, Director General of Forest Industry Policy at the Korea Forest Service, stated, "The Korea Forest Service will focus on transforming the private forests purchased by the state into forests with high economic and public value, returning the benefits of forests to the public," and added, "We ask for the interest and participation of private forest owners so that privately owned forests that are difficult to manage can be sold to the state and preserved."