Korean Forests Gain Ground with U.S. Forest Service Support
Korean forest scientists know all too well how degraded forests affect ecosystems and people. During the 20th century, unsustainable harvesting and conversion of forests to cropland caused “serious social and environmental problems like lack of fuel, severe flooding, and droughts,” according to the Korea Forest Service. In the 1970s, the country began a widespread forest rehabilitation program, resulting in forest cover over about 64 percent of Korea’s land mass today. A few years ago, Korea adopted methods from the U.S. Forest Service Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) Program to keep a watchful eye over forest growth and recovery. In 2011, the Korea Forest Service and Korea Forest Research Institute (KFRI) officially established the Korea Forest Health Monitoring program. KFRI recently sponsored Eastern Threat Center research ecologist Kurt Riitters to attend the International Symposium on Forest Health in Seoul, Korea. Read more in CompassLive...
