The Korea Forest Service will help developing countries prevent desertification and deforestation as called for by the international community, the agency said.

As South Korea is currently an official development assistance, or ODA, donor and has been a member of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee since 2010, as well as the host nation of the Green Climate Fund, it has the obligation and responsibility to carry out global forestry recovery efforts.

To this end, the KFS helps prevent desertification particularly in Mongolia and China, according to the agency.

In Mongolia, it planned to reforest up to 3,000 hectares between 2007 and 2016, and has completed 1,498 hectares as of last year.

Meanwhile, in China, the KFS is providing support to private businesses dedicated to the prevention of desertification and, as a result, has reforested roughly 1,200 hectares as of last year.

Apart from direct involvement, the KFS also aids five international organizations: the Food and Agriculture Organization, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization and International Tropical Timber Organization.

Furthermore, the agency plans to actively pursue distinguished types of ODA services that may be desired by the recipient country, while also collaborating with the Korea International Cooperation Agency in order to discover new and innovative kinds of forestry development assistance.

The agency’s total forest ODA budget for 2014 amounts to 10.35 billion won ($10.12 million).

By Kim Joo-hyun (jhk@heraldcorp.com)