The Hanns Seidel Foundation Korea has been working on the Korean Peninsula for more than 30 years. Between 2014 und 2017, a project on the improvement of rural living conditions through healthy forests was implemented. The project was funded by the European Union. After a follow-up period, the project was successfully concluded on 31 January 2018. A brochure was now published to present an overview of activities, goals and achievement of the project.

Since September 2014, the Hanns Seidel Foundation is implementing a project on sustainable reforestation, funded by the European Union. In September 2017, the 5th International Seminar in Pyongyang took place – it was the final practical activity that took place before the end of the project.

Since October 2015, Hanns Seidel Foundation Korea is carrying out a project on sustainable reforestation in North Korea. The project is funded by the European Union and has a focus on capacity building, institutional strengthening and the extension of the scientific network of the North Korean forestry sector. Thus, four study tours to China and Mongolia took place during the project. As a result, a traineeship for two researcher of the Forest Management Research Institute of North Korea was organized in Mongolia.

On June 14, 2017, a workshop on forest landscape restoration took place in Pyongyang, co-organized by the Ministry of Land and Environment Planning (MoLEP), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Hanns Seidel Foundation Korea. Transcending afforestation, forest landscape restoration is a more comprehensive way of looking at the rehabilitation of landscapes, including forests, water and non-forested areas. In North Korea, where after decades of deforestation currently a campaign for re-forestation is underways, this is very important. For example, many small waterways are completely lacking any tree cover, leading to evaporation of water as well as to uninhibited inflow of soil, i.e. erosion, and less clean water.

In early June 2017 HSF conducted the 2nd Training in Mongolia for foresters from DPR Korea as part of HSF’s EU-funded project on sustainable reforestation in DPRK. The purpose of this training was to share Mongolian experiences in reforestation with representatives of the forestry sector in DPR Korea.

In recent years, new policies and political emphasis supported the North Korean environmental sector. This development comes along with an increased interest in international cooperation. Within the framework of the project on sustainable reforestation by Hanns Seidel Foundation Korea and funded by the European Union, a joint workshop with UNEP WCMC (UN Environment - World Conservation Monitoring Centre) took place. It was part of a training in China.

North Korea, once being covered extensively by forests, experiences a continuous decrease in forested areas beyond the natural regeneration rate. Between 1990 and 2015, almost 40 percent of the country´s forest area disappeared. The reasons for the dramatic development of the forest sector in North Korea were, besides the lack of food and energy, the lack of awareness in politics and administration for the significance of healthy forests. In recent years, a forestry campaign was announced and efforts have been taken to improve the situation. Since 2014, the Hanns Seidel Foundation Korea carries out the project “Improvement of rural living conditions through healthy forests”, which is funded by the European Union. One of the objectives is to eliminate persistent technical and organizational deficiencies.

Ever since the economic crisis in the 1990s, forests in North Korea have been suffering extreme deforestation and degradation. In 2012, a strong campaign for reforestation was brought to life. Since 2014, the Hanns Seidel Foundation is conducting a project for the improvement of rural living conditions through healthy forests, with support from the European Union. Forest pests are one major problem for forests, especially when they are already in a poor condition. Treating pests with pesticides is problematic and in some cases not even possible due to financial reasons. Therefore, one goal of the foundation’s project is to find new organic methods to treat and control pests, such as the pine-tree lappet moth.

As part of a visit within the context of the EU-funded project for the improvement of rural living conditions through healthy forests in North Korea, Prof. Dr. Pierre Ibisch (College of Sustainable Development Eberswalde) conducted an evaluation of the project that has been ongoing since 2014.

After the successful 2nd international seminar early this year, HSF conducted the 3rd seminar on sustainable reforestation in DPR Korea in cooperation with its partners. HSF is supporting reforestation efforts in North Korea through its EU-funded project on the improvement of rural living conditions through sustainable forestry since 2014.