| Visitors walk the Yongyang reservoir track inside the DMZ Eco Peace Park in Cheorwon County, Gangwon Province. Korea Times file |
By Ko Dong-hwan
Large areas on the South Korean side of inter-Korean border have earned UNESCO's designation of "biosphere reserves" in recognition of their biodiversity.
The announcement was made at the 31st International Coordinating Council for MAB (Man and Biosphere Program) held at the organization's headquarters in Paris, June 19. The news was delivered the same day by the South Korean ministries of environment and foreign affairs and the Korea National Park Service.
UNESCO's latest addition to the existing 686 biosphere reserves in 122 countries (as of May 2019) also includes a broader region surrounding Mount Halla on Jeju Island.
The new biosphere reserves along the border are in the civilian control zones below the demilitarized zones (DMZ). The reserves include 182,815 hectares in Cheorwon, Hwacheon, Yanggu, Inje and Goseong counties in Gangwon Province, and 58,412 hectares of Yeoncheon County in Gyeonggi Province.
The reserves are divided into core zones, surrounding zones of forests and agricultural lands, and residential zones with limited business activities.
Core zones in the reserves include cultural heritage protection areas at Gangwon's Mount Geonbong, Mount Daeam and Mount Hyangnobong and areas near the Imjin River in Gyeonggi Province. Forest genetic resources reserves near the river and across Gangwon and Yongneup swamp near the top of Mount Daeam are also in the zones.
The UNESCO council advised that the DMZ's southern regions in Gangwon be designated by the South Korean government or regional authorities as special protective areas to preserve biodiversity and wildlife habitats. The international organization also advised that Yeoncheon County further expand legal protection for swamps and other areas with distinctive biological hubs.
The environment ministry's national environment policy office chief Yoo Seung-gwang described the UNESCO designation as "a valuable achievement from our second attempt to push the regions for the title after the UNESCO council turned it down in 2012."
| Arable land flanks a barbed wire fence (unseen) that marks the civilian control zone on the southern side of the inter-Korean border in Kimwha in Gangwon Province's Cheorwon County. Korea Times file |
"We regret that the latest designation didn't include the de facto DMZ regions," Yoo said. "However, the designation has given us an opportunity to preserve the rich biosphere in vicinities of the DMZ that face environmental threats from rising demand for various industrial developments. It has also encouraged further sustainable development within the communities in the new biosphere reserves."
The Gangwon and Gyeonggi provincial governments submitted their bids for the biosphere reserves designation to UNESCO in September 2018.
Previously, South Korea had six UNESCO biosphere reserves ― Mount Seorak, Jeju Island, Dadohaehaesang National Park, Gwangneung Forest, Gochang County and Suncheon County.
The environment ministry said it now wants to include the Gyeonggi provincial city of Paju in the country's extensive DMZ-bordering municipalities that it later wants to label as a broader UNESCO biosphere reserves area.
| Baekrokdam on Mount Halla. Korea Times file |
The ministry also said that, alongside the inter-Korean peace-building process, it will work with North Korea to have DMZ regions on both sides of the border designated UNESCO biosphere reserves.
The project, according to the authority, would begin by seeking recognition for a DMZ portion that bridges Mount Geumgang and Mount Seorak. The mountains, straddling the border in Gangwon Province, were designated UNESCO biosphere reserves in 2018 and 1982, respectively.
UNESCO's latest designation also included an additional 387,194 hectares of Jeju Island surrounding the 83,094 hectares around Mount Halla at the island's center. This area was designated in 2002. Reserves now cover almost the entire island, except for a 5.5-kilometer wide strip around the coast.
Designation of the reserves does not entail legal powers to ban industrial development. But it is considered effective in dividing the designated regions into preservation and utilization zones so land and natural resources can be efficiently managed while ecological damage is minimized.