The forest ecological restoration project in Uljin, which targeted areas damaged by wildfires, has been selected as a best practice at the World Restoration Congress.
The Korea Forest Service announced on the 16th that the ecological restoration of wildfire-damaged forests in Uljin was chosen as a best practice at the 2nd World Restoration Flagships, organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
On the 15th (local time), officials from the Korea Forest Service are taking a commemorative photo at the awards ceremony for best practices at the 2nd World Restoration Congress held in Rome, Italy. Provided by the Korea Forest Service
The World Restoration Congress has been held since 2022 as part of the United Nations' Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), which was declared in 2019. At this year’s second congress, only 10 out of more than 200 global cases were selected as best practices. In Korea, the Uljin wildfire forest ecological restoration project by the Korea Forest Service was the sole case to be recognized.
The Uljin project was highly regarded for establishing governance through citizen participation to restore protected forests into ecologically healthy woodlands, for creating a rational decision-making process based on legal and institutional frameworks, and for systematically implementing the supply of restoration materials through a native plant supply center, among other processes.
Since March 2022, the Korea Forest Service has been working to ecologically restore 1,013 hectares within protected areas in Uljin, which were affected by large-scale wildfires, using native plants and natural materials. The project began in 2023 and is scheduled for completion in 2027. After the project is completed, a 10-year period of resilience monitoring and management will follow.
Kim Inho, Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service, said, "It is meaningful that the achievements of the Uljin protected area wildfire forest ecological restoration have been recognized by the international community. The Korea Forest Service will continue to contribute to enhancing biodiversity and responding to climate change through forest ecological restoration, and will share Korea’s forest restoration model with the world."
Meanwhile, on the 15th (local time), during the FAO’s 80th anniversary event in Rome, Italy, the FAO presented awards to four best practices: "Forest Restoration from Wildfires (Korea Forest Service, Republic of Korea)", "Collaborative Rangeland Restoration in Jordan (Ministry of Environment, Jordan)", "Bamboo Restoration in the Southern Hemisphere (International Bamboo and Rattan Organization and nine other countries)", and "Restoration Initiative (IUCN and three organizations, nine countries)".
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