South Korean Cultural Ecology - 1905 to 1990
Part 4 - Pollution and the Future -- Page 27

B. Forestry

Korea claimed an outstanding reforestation program but balanced against the massive and extensive deforestation that preceded it, things are not in good shape. The once extensive forests have been decimated by years of harvesting for fuel and lumber. Only one third of Korea is covered with trees of substantial size and most of that is in the inaccessible mountains in the Northeast. South Korean farmers have always used the nation's forests for fuel and household products, but centuries of overuse had denuded the countryside by 1910. The war ended the Japanese efforts to replace the forest stocks and the Korean War destroyed most of the remaining forests. Between the 1950s and the 1970s much progress was made in reforestation. The volume of timber rose from 30.8 million cubic meters in 1954 to a high of 117.3 million cubic meters in 1979. The density of the forest rose from an average of 4.8 to 17.8 cubic meters per hectare of woodland. About 20% of the forests belong to the government, 8% was owned by local public authorities and 72% was in private hands. The reforestation took place only in government forests and the density improvement took place only in government lands. Most of the private woodlands were under control smallholders who could not afford to plant and maintain young seedlings. With the Saemaul movement, things have improved with 1.4 million hectares of land planted with 3.4 million seedlings. In 1988 Korea imported 88% of its timber needs, mostly from Malaysia and Indonesia. With the help of the government and foreign experts the local farmers have been shown that well-managed forests can be profitable. Farming in the lowlands depends on a steady flow of water from the forested highlands. The deforestation led to an erratic river flow that brought drought and flooding leading to erosion and soil loss. The excess erosion increased the silting in the rivers that increased the frequency of flooding. Also the dams became filled with silt and reduced their capacity to hold water for the dry season and to hold water to reduce flooding during the monsoon season. The forest destruction and depletion has caused a major ecological chain reaction.