Deputy Minister Tae-hun Nam of the Korea Forest Service (KFS) participated in the 14th ROK-Central Asia Cooperation Forum held on November 30, 2021, in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Deputy Minister Nam introduced Korean forest sector’s ODA projects in Central Asia and asked for active participation in the XV World Forestry Congress (WFC) to be held on May 2-6, 2022, in Seoul, Korea.The ROK-Central Asia Cooperation Forum is a foreign ministerial-level forum launched in 2007. This year, the forum discussed over future cooperation direction between Korea and five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) in forest, health, and digital sectors to aim economic recovery in the post-COVID era.During the forest session, the KFS and forest governmental agencies of the five Central Asian countries and the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO) participated and reconfirmed the importance of forest restoration in drylands of Central Asia and enhancing forest cooperation.Also, Deputy Minister Tae-hun Nam held a bilateral meeting with Mr. Naim Nabizoda, Deputy Head of the Forestry Agency under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan. Both sides agreed to strengthen cooperation to continuously promote ROK-Tajikistan forest cooperative projects.The KFS is currently carrying out an ODA project in Tajikistan, which provides about 2 billion won for the period of 2019-2022 to support nurseries, saxual forestation, and pistachio plantation to generate income of the local communities in Tajikistan.Deputy Minister Nam stated that the 14th ROK-Central Asia Cooperation Forum became an opportunity to reinforce forest cooperation with all five Central Asian countries, and hopes to further discuss forest restoration in drylands during the XV World Forestry Congress (WFC) to be held in May 2022.

At UNFCCC COP26 held in Glasgow, United Kingdom in October 31-November 12, 2021, the Korea Forest Service (KFS) participated in the press conference of Global Forest Finance Pledge and hosted the Peace Forest Initiative (PFI) side event. The KFS Minister Byeong-am Choi announced to join the Global Forest Finance Pledge which collectively provides US$12 billion for forest-related climate finance to ODA eligible countries between 2021-2025.The UK, the hosting country of COP26, organized a Leader's event called 'Action on Forests and Land-use,' to emphasize the importance of restoration and conservation of forests and sustainable land-use. At this event, 'Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests and Land Use' and 'Global Forest Finance Pledge,' both of which the KFS has signed, were announced. The Global Forest Finance Pledge that committed the largest amount of financial support of advanced countries highlighted the value of forest as a global carbon sink and foundation of biodiversity. The press conference was attended by Colombian President Ivan Duque Marquez of Colombia, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, The Rt Hon Frank Zacharias Robin Goldsmith of the UK, Norwegian Minister of Climate and the Environment Espen Barth Eide, and KFS Minister Byeong-am Choi.During the press conference, Minister Choi stated that Korea's successful forest restoration experience has been a role model to many developing countries, and that he hopes the agenda of the Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests and Land Use and the Global Forest Finance Pledge will be addressed during the XV World Forestry Congress to be held in Seoul, Korea, in May 2-6, 2022.Also, the Korea Forest Service hosted the Peace Forest Initiative side event at the Korea Pavilion. Peace Forest Initiative is a program that achieves international ecosystem restoration and builds trust and peace among bordering countries in conflict through forest restoration cooperative projects. At the event, UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw gave a keynote speech on 'Importance of global forest cooperation for climate action and promotion of peace,' H.E. Prof. Fekadu Beyene, Commissioner for the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commission (EFCCC) of Ethiopia introduced the pilot project of PFI in Ethiopia. Director General Park Eun-sik of the KFS International Affairs Bureau introduced the international cooperation policies and projects of the KFS, followed by the presentations of a representative from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Deputy Director General Hang Suntra of Forestry Administration, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (FA-MAFF) of Cambodia.The KFS is going to continue to expand the PFI partnership countries to enhance the capacity of developing countries that aim to address climate crisis.

P4G Seoul Summit 2021 Special Breakout Session on ForestsOn May 18th 2021, the Korea Forest Service organized a Special Breakout Session on Forests during the Green Future Week of the P4G Seoul Summit 2021, under the theme of “Forests for Global Net-Zero and Peace.” The session focused on the role of forests as a major carbon sink, and discussed the current status and future direction of the world’s forestry sector.The session’s keynote speakers, presenters, and panelists included Minister Byeong-am CHOI of the KFS, Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw of the UNCCD, Senator Chris Coons of the U.S., Director General Qu Dongyu of the FAO, Mr. Alex Rudee of the WRI, Mr. Kim Hyung-soo, the CEO of Tree Planet, Ambassador Frode Solberg of Norway to Korea, Executive Director Ricardo L. Calderon of AFoCO, Deputy Minister Milagros De Camps of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of the Dominican Republic, Director German Velasquez of the GCF, and Mr. Chung In-bo, the CEO of SK Forest.At the session, Minister Byeong-am CHOI emphasized the importance of partnering between public and private sector, and advanced and developing countries, to tackle the global climate crisis together. He introduced a P4G Partnership Start-up Project named ‘Agroforestry for People, Peace, and Prosperity,’ of which the governments, public and private sector of both Korea and Ethiopia collaborate to restore the forest ecosystem and build a traditional style shade-grown coffee farm. He also extended his invitation to the 15th World Forestry Congress to be co-hosted by the KFS and the FAO next year.Click the URL below to watch the Special Breakout Session on Forests of the P4G Seoul Summit 2021.URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TiUCFuBrAw

TOP 10 Forest News in 2020The year 2020 was a very special year to the Korea Forest Service like much of the world. Despite challenges posed by the pandemic, we had another fruitful year.Here are top 10 forest news of 2020 selected through a survey of journalists and KFS staff.1. Implementation plan of K-Forest for the Korean New Deal in the forestry sectorThe Korea Forest Service (KFS) has announced “K-Forest Plan 2020-2030, as Korean forest new deal policy including the creation of 5,000 public jobs in the forestry sector in the post-Corona era. 2. Forest healing programs for Corona-blueVarious projects are being carried out to provide more effective forest healing programs for recovering from Corona-blue which is a combined word of Coronavirus and blue meaning depression. Forest healing programs have been proved effective in Corona-blue so far.3. Increased public value of well-managed forests- about 4,000 USD per capita The public value of Korean forests reaches 221 billion USD per year which means each citizen can be provided with public benefits of about 4,000 USD. In order to publicize the importance of well-managed forests and related policy, the month of November is designated for a forest tending period. 4. Opening of Sejong National ArboretumAs part of our efforts in response to climate change, the KFS established “Sejoing National Arboretum” with the nation’s biggest greenhouse so as to conserve and propagate native plants from the central temperate forests. 5. Largest forest growth in the Asia-Pacific region by FAO reportAt the 25th session of FAO Committee on Forestry (COFO) it was addressed that the Republic of Korea saw the largest rate of growing stock in the Asia-Pacific region between 1990 and 2015. The result comes from the flagship report in the region named “Forest Futures-Sustainable Pathway for Forests, Landscapes and People in the Asia-pacific region”.6. Enactment of the Act on Urban Forest The Act on Urban Forest has been enacted with the purpose of creating and managing urban forests in a more systematic way. That way it is expected that various urban forests will reduce fine dust and alleviate urban forest heat island phenomenon, thereby creating a more pleasant living environment and more resting places in the urban areas.7. Five rich national forests for recovering from pandemic fatigue in forests Five rich national forests with outstanding landscape and high ecosystematic value are widely publicized throughout forest eco-tourism so as to offer opportunities for those who suffer from pandemic fatigue to get themselves recharged in forests. 8. Era of wood building by lifting restrictions on wood building scaleRestrictions on wood building scale stipulated in the Building Structure Standards have been abolished so more tall and large wood buildings are expected and the wood building market will also grow.9. Wearable robots for forest fire-fighting- intelligent equipment for forest work safety The KFS has developed wearable robots for forest work, especially for fire-fighting with the view of preventing forest disasters and minimizing damage thereby ensuring safety of the people. 10. Night aerial fire-fighting with “Surion” helicopterA night fire-fighting helicopter called “Surion” has been developed domestically. With a successful trial operation, the Surion was mobilized to suppress Andong forest fire at night. * Attached picture : Annoucnment of K-Forest Plan by KFS Minister