The Korea Forest Service has said it will step up efforts to promote the role of forests in improving the environment, economy and quality of people’s lives by pursuing sustainable forest management.

Under its slogan “forest renaissance,” the KFS seeks a balance between development and conservation to secure a sustainable future.

“In the forest-driven renaissance, we will make good use of forests to tackle climate change, preserve biodiversity and develop them in a sustainable manner,“ said KFS Minister Nam Sung-hyun.

To achieve the goal, the KFS will approach with six strategies that include promotion of economic, environmental and social values of forests, strengthening control over forest-related disasters and supporting studies of forest science and technology. It also plans to strengthen international cooperation and networks.

To boost the economic value of forests, the KFS plans to plant more lucrative trees and create more jobs. It plans to raise Korea’s timber self-sufficiency rate to 25 percent by 2027.

The KFS will also provide incentives to owners and workers to encourage them to cultivate forests that enrich the people’s lives.

The forest authority plans to bolster its capacity for disaster control to protect wooded areas from wildfires and landslides that have been damaging the environment. To prevent and better respond to disasters, the KFS has been deploying data science and information technology to its management system.

To take part in global efforts to preserve the environment, the authority intends to strengthen international cooperation with counterparts around the world, including in North Korea. Inter-Korean ties in forestry are important to enhance disaster control in the border areas, officials added.

By Lee Kwon-hyung (kwonhl@heraldcorp.com) and Lim Jae-seong (forestjs@heraldcorp.com)