2002 Newsletter

Korea's Beleagured DMZ Ecosystems:
Unique Sanctuary For Threatened Species

Ke Chung Kim, Ph.D. Chair, The DMZ Forum

The Korea's Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) still separates the two Koreas, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on the north and the Republic of Korea (ROK) on the South, and is the point of international tensions and military posturing. The Korean peninsula remains one of the most volatile regions of the world. For the last 49 years the borders of the DMZ has been highly fortified on both sides with military armaments and troops. As a result, human inaccessibility has allowed damaged forests to regenerate and farmlands to return to a natural state with wild plants and animals. The DMZ corridor has become a de facto natural reserve, providing a sanctuary for endangered plants and animals. The DMZ ecosystems that preserve the last vestiges of Korea's natural heritage become the sole in-situ resource for pan-Korean biodiversity conservation. The integrity of natural ecosystems and landscape has been severely undermined by rapid economic development, urbanization and military operation, which resulted in massive destruction of habitats and serious loss of biodiversity on the Korean peninsula. Biodiversity loss and continued environmental degradation will have serious consequences in economic and environmental securities for Korean people. Korea's environmental security ultimately depends on the success of biodiversity conservation, involving massive restoration of habitats and rehabilitation of biodiversity. The preservation of the DMZ ecosystems is an integral, essential aspect of the pan-Korean conservation efforts, as the 1992 Basic Agreement between the DPRK and the ROK affirmed the use of the DMZ corridor for specific peaceful purpose.

As the DMZ is ready-made natural reserve, clearly delimited, demilitarized, and nature-protected and neither side of the two Koreas but Korean people own it, it is ready to be formally transformed into a system of permanent bioreserves, namely the Korea Peace Bioreserves System (KPBRS). The KPBRS should, in principle, occupy the entire DMZ corridor and adjacent areas in the buffer zones on both sides. Considering strong influence of development forces in and out of Korea, no other limited reserves should be proposed before formal agreements are reached for preserving the DMZ. Once the both Koreas signed the agreement to develop the KPBRS, this approach provides room for negotiation in defining the category and size of individual reserves. The preservation of the DMZ corridor for conservation is tenuous at best and continually threatened by economic development forces. Therefore, no efforts should be spared for promoting biodiversity conservation and educating the public about the needs and benefits of preserving the DMZ ecosystems in South Korea. The DMZ Forum continue to garner strong support from various sectors of the world community and actively engage the political and scientific leaderships of the both Koreas for eventual authorization to preserve the DMZ for conservation and peace.

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