Korea pledges increased support for reforestation in developing countries

President Moon Jae-in delivers an opening speech during the World Forestry Congress at COEX in Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of Korea Forest Service

World Forestry Congress kicks off 5-day run in Seoul

By Baek Byung-yeul

President Moon Jae-in pledged that Korea will expand the size of the official development assistance (ODA) budget and technical help to support reforestation in developing countries on the first day of the World Forestry Congress (WFC) held in Seoul, Monday.

"Korea will actively participate in the international community's efforts to protect and nurture forests based on the experience of achieving reforestation through solidarity and cooperation," Moon said during a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the event held at COEX in southern Seoul.

"We plan to more than double the size of the ODA budget by 2030, and we will expand ODA in the forest sector accordingly. The country will participate in the global forest funding pledge of last year and implement the $60 million donation without any problems."

Visitors to the World Forestry Congress stand in line at COEX in Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Korea is regarded as one of the world's biggest success cases in reforestation efforts. Based on its experience, it became the host country of the WFC, the world's largest forest-related event.

Organized by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the WFC is an event where parties form all around the world gather to discuss everything about the global forest sector. The event is running for five days until Friday, May 6.

It is attended by government officials, international organizations, civic groups and companies from 144 countries to discuss issues related to forests and the broader environment. The organizing committee expects the event, which was originally scheduled to be held in 2021 but delayed to this year due to the pandemic, to be the largest ever, featuring more than 10,000 participants.

"Forests are our key partners for achieving the objectives of the 2030 Agenda including combating desertification, achieving food security and improving livelihoods, as well as the Global Forest Goals, the Paris Agreement, the U.N. Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework," FAO Director-General Qu Dongyum said.

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"This is an important message to be carried to the important global meetings of the Rio Conventions and other global fora where decisions will be made on the future of the planet and its people, to ensure that forests are an integral part of the solution to current and future challenges."

Choi Byeong-am, minister of the Korea Forest Service, speaks during a press conference at the World Forestry Congress at COEX in Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Choi Byeong-am, minister of Korea Forest Service, told reporters that Korea as a host nation will try to share its experience of making the nation greener and be more responsible to agilely respond to forest issues that the global community is facing.

"The WFC is the largest event in the forest sector that shares global problems such as climate change, reduced diversity of plants and desertification and seeks methodologies for how to solve them," Choi said.

"Korea was able to host the event as a country that successfully restored forests. As a host country, Korea will share the success stories we have experienced with the world and take the lead in solving and creating a vision for solving forest problems facing the whole world with responsibility."

The WFC is held every six years. This is the first time for an Asian nation to host the event since the 1978 congress held in Indonesia. Various official representatives ― 33 ministers and vice ministers and 10 heads of international organizations ― will attend the largest-ever general meeting until Friday to deliver keynote speeches.

Seen are, from left, XV World Forestry Congress Secretariat Secretary-General Park Eun-sik, Korea Forest Service Minister Choi Byeong-am, Princess Basma bint Ali of Jordan and Food and Agriculture Organization Deputy Director-General Maria Helena Semedo, during a press conference for the World Forestry Congress at COEX in Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Jordan's Princess Basma bint Ali, a goodwill ambassador of the FAO, said she hopes this event will become an opportunity to share Korea's reforestation knowhow.

"One of the main reasons why I wanted to come here physically is because I think it's very different when you are in person to come. Also, I wanted to show how important this congress is and the importance of forestation. We have no more time left," the princess told reporters. Princess Basma is widely known for her over 30 years of working actively on biodiversity.

"I hope not only Jordan but for the whole Near East and North Africa regions, we can definitely use the experience from Korea's reforestation," she added.

Event packed with visitors

With the country allowing the public to take masks off while outside starting Monday, hundreds of thousands of middle and high schools students and other citizens joined the WFC event to see how the world is working to prevent deforestation.

"We made a visit to the World Forestry Congress as a field trip. I am pretty excited to see this kind of event with my schoolmates," a student from a middle school in Seoul said during the event. "I've heard that making the world greener is very important and I thinks it is meaningful to see what kinds of efforts countries are making."

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