A STATEMENT OF THE DMZ FORUM  - MARCH 2008

The Demilitarized Zone in Korea:
Its Importance for the Restoration of a Healthy Environment on the Peninsula
Proposed Policies for Rebuilding the Korean Ecology
What Is Needed; Who Can Do It

The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is 2 ½-miles deep across the Korean peninsula, separating North and South Korea.  With barbed wire and land mines on the perimeter, it has kept humans out for nearly 55 years, protecting many plants and animals that were lost in the North and the South.  Now, these plants and animals can help to restore nature where it has been destroyed.

When peace is declared and the barbed wire and land mines are gone, the DMZ can:
--educate scientists on how nature restores itself when humans have not interfered
--provide a source to re-introduce plants and animals driven from both Koreas by economic development
--keep alive those birds and other animals still inhabiting the DMZ area that are slipping toward extinction
--provide a profitable eco-tourism industry for both Koreas
--contribute clean air and water to lives all around it.
--celebrate peace, bringing together the two Koreas in a common project beneficial to both.

Both Koreas seem to emphasize economic growth over environmental protection. Despite government policies intended to protect air, soil and water quality and protection of native animals and plants, South and North Korea ranked very low in their environmental preservation and policies in an international comparison  Both governments pledge restoration.

A DMZ Coalition organized by the DMZ Forum promotes the restoration of Korea’s traditional “land of embroidered mountains and rivers.”  Its members live in many countries but recognize the importance to the whole world of nature’s restoration on the Peninsula—and the power of the DMZ and its adjoining corridors to achieve that.

Environment on the Korean Peninsula: Poor in International Comparison and Currently Threatened
 
An Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) produced by scientists of Yale and Columbia Universities in 2005 ranked North Korea the worst of 146 countries and South Korea 122nd in their ability to protect their environment over the next several decades.
 
 The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in a statement November 22, 2007:
The past decade has seen declining forests in North Korea due to timber production, firewood consumption, wild fires and insect attacks associated with drought, population growth and conversion of land to agricultural production. Pollution of rivers and streams has become severe in recent years, particularly in the Taedong River, which flows through central Pyongyang.

Forest degradation in North Korea leads to: decrease of timber resources and habitats, weakness in control function of the biosphere on atmosphere and hydrology, loss of biological species, flooding and soil erosion.
With expansion of industry and population growth, problems related to water conservation and management are emerging.
Together with industrial development and population growth, air quality is deteriorating, particularly in urban and industrial areas. The major causes of air pollution have been associated with industrial boilers, kilns, motor vehicles in and around cities and industrial areas. North Korea meets its primary energy demand by using domestic coal resources, releasing sulphur dioxide, suspended particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen.

In 2003, UN Environment Programme and North Korean government surveyed conditions there, observing:
--“ There is…a tendency to ignore protection and concentrate heavily on development alone….lead[ing] to destruction of wildlife habitat and ultimately…to unprecedented pressure on biodiversity….For higher vegetation, there are 10 critically endangered species, 42 endangered species, 76 rare species and 26 species of region-based populations, giving a total of 158 species, representing 4 percent of threatened higher vegetation species worldwide In the case of vertebrates, 9 critically endangered species, 29 endangered species and 119 rare species, account for around 11 percent of global vertebrate species under threat.”
--“The acidification of arable land by fertilizer application brings about a decline both in soil humus content and in crop output.
--Food and medicine crops are declining and threatened with extinction. “The key priority is to establish a regular mechanism to gather stocks for storage in a gene bank at the national level.”

In South Korea, a 1994 Biodiversity Korea 2000 Report surveyed animals already eliminated from South Korea or in danger of  elimination:14% of bird species, 23% of freshwater fishes, 39% of mammals, 48% of reptiles and 60% of amphibians.

Expert statements that follow were made at two recent conferences in South Korea:
(1) “Biodiversity and Conservation in the DMZ,” sponsored by the ROK Ministry of Environment, the ROK Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs and NEASPEC (North-East Asia Sub-Regional Programme for Environmental Cooperation.) December 1-2, 2006.
(2) “International Conference on Korea’s DMZ Conservation,” sponsored by The DMZ Forum and the Korea Environmental Institute, June 4, 2007

[NOTE: Green type highlights hopeful conditions, red type highlights threats.]
The DMZ and Adjoining Civilian Control Zones Can Help Reverse Environmental Degradation But Plans To Do That Are Threatened by Development Pressures

According to Kim Jung-wk, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Seoul National University: Forests cover just over 5% of what existed in South Korea in1910. Postwar governments ignored environmental protection in favor of industrialization. Energy consumption per Gross National Project is the highest of all OECD nations (the economically advanced countries) and 50% above the OECD average. While other industrialized countries have been decreasing pollution, emissions in South Korea continue to rise—except for sulfur dioxide,  which has been decreasing since 1991 but is still double Japan’s emissions even though Japan produces 12 times South Korean output. “The South Korean government has continued planning of growth-oriented economic development without giving much thought to the environment.”

“The Saeman’geum reclamation project, the biggest of its kind...in the world, is now under construction…jeopardizing one of the few estuarine tidal flats left in South Korea. [They are essential for rare birds, plants and animals.]”  Expansion of  Inchon airport would further erase mudflats. Highways are under construction that would create the highest highway density in the world. The average South Korean car travels 26,000 km/year compared to U.S. cars’ 19,000—-a result of very wide urban expressways and low-priced downtown parking. Meanwhile, the government also is building high-speed trains and airports and the largest coal power plant in the world is under construction.

Jin-Oh Kim, Korean Environmental Institute:  “In 1962, the government initiated an ambitious nationwide forestation project to rehabilitate most of the affected forests. But rich diversity was replaced chiefly with conifers, and habitats for many species gradually disappeared.”

Chea-hoan Lim, Director, Nature Policy Division, Ministry of Environment, Republic of Korea: “…The DMZ and its bordering regions have been an ecological treasure trove, full of invaluable flora and fauna, resulting from limited human impact in the area for more than 50 years.” The DMZ has “abundant biodiversity, more than any other region in the nation: 97.4% consists of forest and grassland.” Between Mt. Keumgang in North Korea and Mt. Seorak in South Korea, there is “near primary forest vegetation.”   Partial surveys confirmed about 2,700 wildlife species, including 67 endangered—30% of all South Korean endangered species. The Southern part of the DMZ is rated “High preservation value” on the South Korean National Environmental Zoning Map. It is an internationally renowned bird migration site, with “outstanding wetlands and vegetation.”  About a tenth of the world’s cranes winter on the Cheorwon Plain [adjacent to the DMZ]..

The Ministry of Environment has selected the DMZ ecosystem along with the Baektu Mountain Range and various small islands and coastal regions as the three core regions in the ‘Korean Peninsula Ecological Network’ established in December 2002....However, with the cooperative atmosphere between the two Koreas in recent years, development projects are expected to abound in the DMZ and the bordering regions.

Hoi-Seong Jeong, President, Korean Environmental Institute (KEI), a South Korean government research agency: "The DMZ is a unique and remarkable part of the Northeast Asian ecosystem, and an eco-laboratory to present how nature reclaims itself without human intervention. However, ...it is a daunting policy challenge for South Korea to find a way to achieve sustainable development of the DMZ by grappling with the real conflicts between conservation and development.”

Jin-Oh Kim, KEI: “The environmental quality of the DMZ is significantly threatened by rapid urban development occurring in the CCZ [the Civilian Control Zone alongside the DMZ where human activity is partially controlled] …. Cities in the CCZ are developing tourism economies, and major corporations are interested in developing the region…...Even more serious is the damage that is being done in some valuable habitats, particularly the wetlands, in the CCZ. For example, the preliminary construction of a railroad and highway stretching across the DMZ and CCZ has already resulted in the degradation of the Sachon River ecosystem near the eastern CCZ.” On the other hand, development in the CCZ has been restricted, in part, by over a million land mines, and it has become “a haven for many plants and animals that were considered extirpated or endangered.”  . Rare birds are threatened not just by loss of wetlands but by chemicals and fertilizers used on rice fields. Other threats to rare bird habitat: road-building, reed harvesting, river channelization and deforestation.

Young Han Kowon and Young Il Song, KEI:: The DMZ is “a treasure house of ecosystems…that can be tapped for tourism and teaching historical lessons.”  An example of its natural value: Streams there are of “first quality, pure due to lack of air pollution in the area.”  But already the intrusion of a road and railroad on the east to Mt. Keumgang tourist area and the west to the Kaesong Industrial Park have probably “affected heavily” the ecosystems of the DMZ. Future development of factories and cities around the industrial park would cause “serious environmental impacts in the DMZ as well as the Imjin and Han Rivers.” Around Mt. Keumgang, “if tourists increase dramatically, frequent operation of buses and trains will be inevitable, maybe causing disturbance of animals.”  And there are four national roads and six local roads, plus two rail lines that once crossed the central part of the DMZ that might be re-connected.

Joon Hwan Shin, Jong-Hwan Lim and Jung Hwa Chun, Korea Forest Research Institute: “The importance of the DMZ ecosystem in the context of biodiversity conservation is recognized world wide, and the DMZ is considered a default sanctuary for wildlife…Abandoned rice fields became wetlands—a wonderful model to show how nature restores the land without human beings…The DMZ and CCZ are the area where the northern and southern biota in Korea overlap, resulting in rich biodiversity”

Kisup Lee, Korea Institute of Environmental Biology: Re: Black-faced Spoonbills—“Almost all adults come to breed on the border zone of the West Coast….Their feeding places have been rapidly decreased by the reclamation of  mudflats and estuaries in Korea….Some worry about their very existence after reunification…”

Sergei and Elena Smirenski, Russian staff of International Crane Foundation: “Lack of working relations among crane sites [in several countries]…represents an imminent threat to the future of all cranes in the Amur River Basin. 
 
Grimm Park, Long-Tailed Goral Research Institute: The Long-Tailed Goral was declared an endangered species in 1998 by the South Korean Environment Ministry.  “An estimated 700 to 800 Gorals are believed to inhabit parts of the DMZ….[ and the CCZ.] They are threatened by habitat loss and poaching….There are no inter-Korean talks about how to protect wild animals.”

Sang Hoon Han, Korea National Park Service: “If South Korea plans to restore the wildlife sacrificed due to its economic growth, the DMZ is a very important area for biodiversity to be restored.”  While “research about wildlife in the DMZ is very scarce,” we know there are roe-deer, water deer, wild boar, leopard cat, Siberian weasel, otter and raccoon dog in the west and Asiatic black bear and Far Eastern leopard, long-tailed goral and musk deer in the East.

Jin Young Park, National Institute of Environmental Research:  “Most endangered birds were distributed widely throughout South Korea, but habitats were destroyed, lost and degraded and birds were poached.  Finally, the DMZ became the only place for most endangered birds…. Almost every kind of endangered birds visits the DMZ.” Pressure for development in the DMZ is expected to increase as the exchange between the South and North expands. We should make pertinent conservation programs for the DMZ before it’s too late.”

Seven staff members of the Korea Maritime Institute: “The transboundary coastal area in the western part of the Korean Peninsula has very valuable natural resources…because the area has been closed off…by [demilitarized regulations].  The limited access…has prevented the marine and coastal ecosystem from being degraded by irreversible developments elsewhere in both Koreas….Development…such as the construction of Kaesong industrial complex and the Song-do island development project…pose threats to the health and productivity of the ecosystem in the area….Much attention has to be drawn to the protection of the valuable ecological belt from Baekryeong Island to the DMZ (Han and Imjin Rivers and their watersheds) and the co-existence with the economic belt from Gaesung in North Korea to Sogdo in South Korea.” 

Chan-Hee Lee, Myongji University: “Most of the estuaries in Korea have lost their indigenous ecological features because of the extensive wetland reclamation and the river-mouth barrage constructions.  However, the Han River estuary still keeps the typical estuarine features because the area has been protected as the DMZ….The Han River estuary is the highest valued area for conservation to protect the Yellow Sea large marine ecosystem….However, the pressure for use and exploitation are increasing…”

Proposed Policies for Rebuilding the Korean Ecology

Using the DMZ to Redeem Nature on the Peninsula: The Vision

The DMZ Forum proposes that:

As the DMZ is opened to humans, scientists should lead the way and should be given enough time
--to study how nature has restored itself after war’s devastation.
--to map areas that must be preserved to keep rare and endangered species alive
--to map areas appropriate for eco-tourism
--to map areas appropriate for organic farming and other sustainable enterprises, including a memorial--to Koreans who suffered in the war, to peace and to Korean brotherhood.
--to identify plants and animals remaining in the DMZ that could survive in North and South Korea if properly fostered in protected habitat and to set out a process for transplanting them.

There is evidence that eco-tourism is highly profitable—probably the most profitable use of land in and near the DMZ.  Several Korean and international organizations have proposed an immediate plan to join Mt. Keumgang and Mt. Seorak, across the DMZ, in an international peace park. The DMZ Forum will promote that concept.

Recent studies show that organic farming—especially in less developed economies--can produce larger crops than farming with artificial fertilizers and pesticides, with far less damage to nature.  Scientists from North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan, the U.S., New Zealand and Russia have formulated a pilot project in Ambyon—approved by the North Korean government—that would provide technical assistance and other aid to farmers to improve their crop yield using organic methods.  Successful farming in that area would have the further benefit of leaving grain on the ground for migrating rare cranes.

Seongwoo Jeon, KEI, provided this scenario:  “…All regions of the DMZ will be authorized to be conserved for ecology and landscape.  Depending on their potential value, the regions will be divided into core, buffer and transition area….The DMZ will be designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve under South and North Korea.  Territorial seas from the Han River to Baengnyeong Island will be promoted to be an International Ocean Park for Peace….Outside the DMZ will be managed as reservations with field investigation of experts and agreement between local people and relevant authorities, after areas for ecology, landscape and marsh are chosen.”  Experts and nongovernmental organizations should carry out environmental evaluation to maintain sustainable development.
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Anna Grichting, Harvard School of Design (an expert on the peace park between Greek and Turkish sectors of Cyprus): An environmental peace park can be a “catalyst for reintegration of the divided communities, backbone of a reconstruction process, a vehicle for an innovative…environmental landscape design.”

Southern Africa’s first peace park, the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, was formally opened on 12 May 2000 by the Presidents of Botswana and South Africa. On 9 December 2002 the three heads of state of Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe signed an international treaty at Xai-Xai to establish the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park. On 1 August 2003 President Sam Nujoma of Namibia and President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa signed an international treaty establishing the Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park. International agreements to develop a further seven transfrontier parks have already been signed and four more are in various stages of development.

Existing plans to accomplish this vision

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Republic of Korea signed an agreement November 22, 2007 establishing a Trust Fund that addresses key environmental issues in North Korea.  The Republic of Korea will contribute US$4.4 million for this project.
 
The first venture of its kind on the environment between the two Koreas, the Trust Fund will tackle forest depletion, declining water quality, air pollution, land degradation and biodiversity in the DPRK. It will also support eco-housing initiatives as well as conservation and management of the Taedong watershed, environmental education, integrated environmental monitoring system, clean development mechanism and renewable energy technology.

North Korea has encouraged community, youth and children's groups to establish tree nurseries and to participate in campaigns such as the National Tree Planting Day on 2 March every year. The Government is currently strengthening legal control on effluent from factories by applying the "Polluter Pays Principle" and has initiated mass media campaigns to inform the public of the need for water conservation.  Environmental protection was also recognized as a priority issue and a prerequisite for sustainable development after a series of natural disasters in the mid-1990s led to a critical drop in yields of major crops. In 1998, North Korea revised its constitution and designated environmental protection as a priority over all productive practices and identified it as a prerequisite for sustainable development. National laws on forests, fisheries, water resources and marine pollution were also adopted.

RE: South Korea.  [NOTE: The National Administration has changed with a new party in power.  All quotations of government officials and staff preceded the change of government in February 2008.]  Chea-hoan Lim, Director, Nature Policy Division, Ministry of Environment: After reunification, the intent is to maintain the DMZ as a “natural reserve” for two years while “a master plan for biological resources conservation” is prepared. “…keeping the entire DMZ subject to the conservation of ecology and scenic views,” and identifying the “conservation value of each part for differentiated management….”  We will “promote the balance of development and conservation in the bordering regions…”

“For the purpose of environmental conservation and sustainable use of the DMZ and its bordering regions, a detailed and comprehensive management system is necessary in order to control various development efforts to be undertaken in this area and to ensure conservation in the areas of high value of conservation.”

South Korea’s Natural Environment surveys and the National Environmental Zoning Map were prepared in 2002-2004. “A Master Plan for the Conservation of Ecosystems in the DMZ and its Bordering Regions, [Commissioned by the President was] delivered at a Cabinet meeting” August 2005 by the Ministry of Environment. A National Council of Master Plan for DMZ Ecosystem Conservation was set in September 2005 by the Office for Government Policy Coordination. A five year research program was initiated, dividing the area into five sections, but the UN Command Armistice Commission halted the DMZ portion; the program continues in the CCZ. “Designation of the Scope and Boundaries of Wetland Protection Areas” research is on-going and due for completion in December 2007.

“Fundamental Directions” of the Master Plan--before reunification--are to conduct ecosystem surveys, “promote a Master Plan for Biological Resources Conservation” and designation of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve by both Koreas. The Environment Ministry will work with the Ministries of Unification and National Defense and the UN to try to gain DMZ access to do regular surveys so selected areas can be designated for legal protection, e.g., the four estuaries of the Han River. One or two areas “surrounding the CCZ” would be designated “protection areas during 2007 and 2008.” Using existing environmental review systems, we will “contrive measures for minimizing degradation of the natural environment from development plans…” A “Natural Environment National Trust Corporation” was set up in March 2007 that is mandated to acquire areas with outstanding ecosystems in the DMZ and bordering areas. An “ecosystem conservation cooperation fund” is available to pay for restoration of degraded sites. But the Ministry of National Defense is advocating reduction of the Civilian Control Zone, from 15 km to 10 km below the demarcation line to promote activities there.

Suk-kyang Shim, Korean National Commission for UNESCO: “Since 2001, the South Korean Ministry of Environment has developed strategies and a timetable for the ‘Korea DMZ Biosphere Reserve’….The initiative was proposed to North Korea via UNESCO, however North Korea opposed it because of the military standoff.  The South Korean Cabinet meeting in August 2005 reaffirmed the initiative to designate the DMZ a Biosphere Reserve in the long term….There are now 8 Transboundary Biosphere Reserves in the world.”  UNESCO can play “…the role of a mediator or facilitator of international conservation…” The DMZ can be designated by UNESCO a Biosphere Reserve or a World Heritage Site or both.

A Northeast Asia Subregional Programme for Environmental Cooperation includes both Koreas and China, Japan, Mongolia and Russia.  It encourages multi-national efforts to conserve nature, particularly saving the Amur Tiger, Amur Leopard and Snow Leopard and the White-Naped and Hooded Cranes and the Black-Faced Spoonbill. 

South Korea has made various proposals to North Korea about using the DMZ, including a City of Peace and joint investigation of ecosystems. “A groundbreaking ceremony of the Peace Park in the DMZ took place in Inje, Kangwon Province, in May 2006.”

Seven staff members of the Korea Maritime Institute: “…A Presidential Commission on Sustainable Development has prepared ‘National Initiatives for Sustainable Development of Marine and Coastal Sectors’” in 2004, reported to President Roh in 2005, who “ordered relevant ministers to incorporate and implement the Initiatives into National Policies, including ‘the Establishment of a Marine Peace Park’. “
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What else needs to happen

Data on nature covering the whole peninsula should be compiled.

In advance of opening the DMZ to humans, satellites should provide as much information as possible on the state of nature there.  The Korea Environmental Institute has compiled a great deal of that information.  It should be made available to scientists worldwide.
Satellite images of the DMZ and the whole Korean peninsula taken in 1987-89 and 2001 have enabled scientists to know forest cover and quality, count vertebrates, vegetation, invertebrate and microbe species, soil and water quality.

John Mickelson, formerly Columbia University Earth Institute:  Geospatial systems can provide data on geology and soils, geomorphology, hydrology, marine, coastal resources and wetlands, elevation, transportation, population and cultural areas, stresses and threats to systems, e.g., pollution sources and impacts, land use/land cover, including seasonal change, historic trends, climate, flooding, droughts, aquatic systems and vegetation.

Ke Chung Kim, Professor of Entomology, Penn State University: “The DMZ ecosystems offer ready-made nature reserves …. already well defined by geology, soil topography, forest/vegetation and land-use for different classes of habitats and ecosystems under various levels of protection. They are therefore ready to be formally organized into a system of permanent protected areas….administered by a joint commission….of North and South Korean representatives along with distinguished personalities and scientists from around the world…Korea’s biodiversity conservation including the preservation of the DMZ biota is tenuous at best and continually threatened by economic development forces. Until it becomes an official government policy with strong public support, no efforts should be spared in promoting biodiversity conservation and educating the public.”

Seongwoo Jeon, KEI: “It is hard to measure the ownership inside the DMZ because since the Land Reform Act in the 1940s, land accounts have not been restored completely.  Among them, the southern border of the DMZ has not been measured….Paju and Yunchun…contain 78% of unidentified land, 16% of private land, and 6% of state-owned land….Identifying land condition inside the DMZ needs to come first. .Methods to restore and manage lands should be examined next.

Chang man Won, China’s National Institute of Environmental Science: To protect the spotted seal, “the establishment of an international protected areas network and research cooperation between China and North and South Korea are urgently needed.”

Seven staff members of the Korea Maritime Institute: To achieve the Marine Peace Park promised by President Roh, stakeholders must be persuaded, North and South Korea should jointly develop and implement the plan “with close networking and support from relevant international entities.”

Chang-Hee Lee, Myongji University: Estuaries in Korea require stricter controls on development following estuary-wide plans.  If an overall law protecting all Korean estuaries is not possible, a law protecting the Han River estuary should be passed.

Chea-hoan Lim, Director, Nature Policy Division, Ministry of Environment: A government task force for DMZ ecosystem conservation should bring together government, private sector and academia “to work in a concerted effort for conservation and utilization of the DMZ ecosystem.”  The public should be educated about the DMZ’s environmental value through a “local ecology center.”  Mr. Lim recommended the following actions: Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries should promote the designation of an “International Marine Peace Park;” Ministry of Administration should do a land survey of the southern half of the DMZ; Ministry of National Defense should include DMZ ecosystem value in officer training; and the Office for Government Policy Coordination should “operate the National Council of Master Plan for DMZ Ecosystem Conservation.”

In Conclusion

The Korea Times, October 19, 2007
By Rick Ruffin, senior editor of Korea Economic Report magazine.  

About 16,000 life species are now faced with extinction, according to the World Conservation Union (IUCN), a consortium of 110 governmental agencies, 800 non- governmental agencies and some 10,000 scientists and experts worldwide.

Currently, extinctions are occurring at rates 1,000 times higher than at any other time in human history. Other mass extinctions occurred 205, 250, 375 and 440 million years ago, well before man arrived on Earth.

The difference between past extinctions and the ones happening now is very clear: 99 percent of species extinctions currently taking place are directly attributable to mankind.
Here on the Korean Peninsula the ecosystem has long been basically destroyed and all the wild animals sent packing, but there is one sliver of hope and it's called the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

The DMZ is home to black bears, mule deer, Chinese egrets, Manchurian cranes, black-faced spoonbills and swan geese, to name a few. There are also ugly pigs and--some people say-- the beautiful and elusive Amur leopard, of which only 30 are known to have survived in Russia.

The DMZ is host to this diversity of life strictly because it is a no man's land. Thousands of land mines and hundreds of kilometers of concertina wire keep out the only species capable of ruining such a fine show, Homo sapiens.

We must preserve this treasure trove of biodiversity, at any and all costs.