A Green Korean Peninsula - International Symposium in Seoul

12/14/2016

Environment projects can serve as a platform for dialogue in Northeast Asia, especially in times of political tensions. On December 14, an International Symposium took place at the Forest Vision Centre in Seoul, South Korea. It explored opportunities how to apply the Paris Agreements and environment restoration experiences in Asia to the Green Korea Project. The Hanns Seidel Foundation Korea took part and shared the experience of its EU-funded reforestation project in North Korea.

Exploring opportunities for the Green Korea project

The symposium was jointly organized by the Green Asia Organization (GAO), the Korea Forestry Promotion Institute (Kofpi) and the Northeast Asia Forest Forum. The GAO was founded in March 2014 and since then works on the Green Korea Project with the title “Green Korea, Green Asia”. Its vision is to build a sustainable green Korean Peninsula and to improve the capability of Northeast Asia to cope with climate change. You can read more here: http://www.climatechangecenter.kr/…/img/eng/CCC_brochure.pdf

The opening ceremony started with speeches by Kim Nam-Gyun, President of Kofpi and Kim Dong-Geun, President of the Green Asia Organization. Choe An-Seom represented the Northeast Asia Forest Forum. Park Hyun of the Korea Forest Research Institute (KFRI) followed with a presentation showing the link between the Paris Agreements and the Green Korea project. His presentation included potential ways to cooperate with North Korea in the field of the environment.

The main session was opened by a presentation of Prof. Nyam-Osor Batkhuu of the National University of Mongolia. He spoke about forest and landscape restoration in Mongolia. Pae Sang-Won introduced projects jointly carried out by South Korean and Mongolian partners. Asia Khamzina of the Korea University presented a project for restoration of degraded croplands in Uzbekistan and Central Asia. She was followed by Felix Glenk from Hanns Seidel Foundation Korea who gave a presentation on the status of reforestation in North Korea with a focus on the ongoing EU-funded reforestation project of HSF Korea in North Korea. The symposium was closed after a plenary debate.

The Hanns Seidel Foundation Korea tries to contribute to the reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula. While political tensions often prevent an intensive dialogue in Northeast Asia and especially on the Korean Peninsula, “green” projects are seen as a way to bring together different actors in the region to work on the common goal of a functioning environment and sustainable development.

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