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Biodiversity in the Inter-Korean Border Region

"Roads, roads, roads, big concrete drain pipes for rice fields, new pension houses and educational facilities. It's not romantic. It's not real wilderness there, but man-made.", Seliger comments on the development at the CCZ on the South Korean side. Due to the expansion of the local infrastructure, birds are losing their feeding grounds, so that there is already a massive loss of tiger shrikes and cranes. Although this development is good for farmers, it also harms nature and birds.

The protection of nature and animals is the main focus for Dr. Seliger and Hanns Seidel Foundation. With a cooperation of the two Korean states, it is hoped to achieve a rapprochement between the two countries.. The fact that North Korea has joined various international forums for nature conservation and bird protection is helpful in this respect, as these can offer platforms for inter-Korean cooperation. Hanns Seidel Foundation was instrumental in North Korea's entry at the Ramsar Convention by helping to survey and publish an inventory of the 73 most important wetlands.

Hanns Seidel Foundation also supports the North in reforestation by inviting experts who could share their expertise with North Korea. Furthermore, a financing project is planned with which 100 hectares of forest are to be newly afforested. The urgency of reforestation in North Korea is great, since natural disasters cannot be cushioned by the decades of reckless deforestation.

But due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, the country has recently cut itself off completely from the outside world so that all projects of Seliger and Hanns Seidel Foundation had to be cancelled for February and March this year.

You can find the corresponding article here:https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2020/02/371_283495.html?fbclid=IwAR1gixtC4LvmvGsrDu2Gw4mXPhn73HroaUfGLuO5ldMujJuNqSuSpWawiT4