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.
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