[The Hwankyung Ilbo] Choi Byung-am, head of the Korea Forest Service, visited Balwangsan Mountain in Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon-do on the 5th to check the growth status of alpine coniferous species vulnerable to climate change, and discussed the results of research and future conservation and restoration.

Mt. Balwang in Pyeongchang is an alpine area with peaks of 1,458 meters above sea level, and the summit is a forest genetic protection zone where secretions and attention are native to which are known to be distributed in very few parts of Korea.

In particular, the results of the first site inspection (2019-2020) based on the survey on the status of endangered alpine coniferous species (2017-2018) were reported at the site.

Since 2016, seven species of coniferous trees, which are endangered alpine coniferous trees, have been selected and managed as conservation targets.

The seven largest alpine coniferous species are estimated to grow about 3.7 million trees, covering 12,094 hectares (0.19% of Korea's forest area) in 31 mountainous areas across the country, including Mt. Halla and Mt. Jiri. 

Over the past two years, the health condition of alpine coniferous species has been monitored with a comprehensive determination of the number of surviving trees, ancient trees, and the amount of leaves on trees and the shape of tree trunks. 

According to the first inspection, the average decline of about 32% was about 33% for globular forests, 31% for secreted forests, and 40% for spruce forests, up about 6% from 26% two years ago.

The frequency of young trees generally decreased (about 43.5 percent for spheroid forests, about 15 percent for secretion trees, and about 14.9 percent for spruce trees) and decreased frequency of young trees in areas with increased mouth decadence poses a threat to the maintenance of alpine coniferous species.

The inspection makes it difficult to determine the cause of the decline of alpine coniferous trees, but it is believed that alpine coniferous trees are limited by extreme weather conditions such as cold wind, strong wind and heavy snow, and stress caused by winter and spring.

Meanwhile, the Korea Forest Service has officially announced its "Gosan Coniferous Species Conservation Strategy and Vision" in 2016 to protect Korea's alpine coniferous species threatened by climate change and is systematically implementing conservation and restoration measures.

By 2018, spatial information was established by investigating the distribution of endangered alpine coniferous species across the country, and from 2019, 500 sample stores selected across the country have been monitored every two years. In addition, three local conservation centers (Bonghwa, Jeju, and Muju) were established in major production areas to foster succession forests to maintain the population of the alpine coniferous species.

In the meantime, the local foreign conservation institute preserves components of biodiversity in addition to natural habitats and measures to foster succession forests for species conservation and secure restoration materials (Article 2 of the Convention on Biological Diversity). 

From next year, the government plans to predict the cause of life and future changes and prepare countermeasures by scrutinizing not only the growing environment of native land, but also the micro-growth, forest biomass, animal and landscape ecosystem. 

"Conserving forests that need to be preserved intact and restoring damaged forest ecosystems is an important natural-based solution (NBS) to respond to climate crises and promote biodiversity," said Choi Byung-am, head of the Korea Forest Service. "The Forest Service will ease the decline of alpine conifer species through monitoring and scrutiny."