Ecological-restoration-and-revegetation-works-in-K

REVIEWKimNam-choonEcologicalrestorationandrevegetationworksinKoreaReceived:15December2004/Revised:17February2005/Accepted:17February2005/Publishedonline:15April2005
InternationalConsortiumofLandscapeandEcologicalEngineeringandSpringer-VerlagTokyo2005AbstractKoreaestablishedfoundationsforrapideco-nomicgrowthandnationaldevelopmentwithinashortperiodoftime,butnotwithoutincidentalproblemsofdegradationtothenaturalenvironment.Problemsin-cludedestructionofecosystemsandreductionofforestarea.Nowadays,environment-friendlyconstructionprojectsarerequiredinKoreaforefficientuseandpreservationofnationalland.Inanefforttoprotectnaturallandfourtypesofrestorationandpreservationplanshavebeenproposedrecently.Thispaperexploresthestatusandvalueoftheseeffortsandtheproblemsofre-vegetationworksondisturbedlandinKorea.Koreastillgivesinsufficientattentiontospeciesselectionforre-vegetationintermsofecologicalsoundness.Inrestoringdamagedareas,Koreastillusesmainlyexoticspecies.Asaresult,theMinistryofConstructionandTransporta-tionisrevisingdesigncriteriaforroadslopesincon-siderationofclimateandtopography.TheMinistryofEnvironmentrevisedtheNaturalEnvironmentConser-vationLawandusesnaturalecologicalrestorationengineersandnaturalenvironmentmanagementopera-torsasenvironmentrestorationspecialists.Theseengi-neersandsectorsspecializeintheareaofnatureinreviewsandecologicalrestorationworks.Thefirstna-tionalqualifyingexaminationtoselectnaturalecologicalrestorationengineersandnaturalenvironmentman-agementoperatorstookplacein2004.Inanefforttoseeksystematicconservationforaneco-network,therehavebeenattemptstodesignatetheBaekduDaegan,whichrunssouthtonorthalongtheKoreanPeninsula,andtheDemilitarisedZone,whichtraverseseasttowest,asecologicalaxes.Effortstosurveythedamagedhabi-tatsfoundintheBaekduDaeganandtodevelopares-torationplanafterdesignatingrestorationareasarebeingmade.Moreover,in2004,theNationalAssemblypassedan‘‘ActontheProtectionoftheBaekduDaeganMountainSystem’’whichwillfacilitatethedesignationofBaekduDaeganintocoreandbufferareasandthereforeitsdesignationasaprotectedarea.TheSeoulMetropolitanGovernmentisplanningtoincreasegreenspaceinurbanareas.InthecaseoftheCheonggyecheonstreamrestorationproject,whichwasinitiatedaspartofeffortstorestoreurbanecosystems,theremovalofexistingstructuresisnearingcompletion.Onceitisfin-ished,ahighlydiverseurbangreencorridorbiospherereservewillbecreatedalongwithrooftopre-vegetation.TheSeoulMetropolitangovernmentplanstointroduceprogramstosupportrooftopre-vegetationprojects.Variousoptionsarestillunderconsiderationoratapilotstage,butoncetheseeffortsbecomemorevisible,theyarelikelytoplayapositiveroleindevelopingandpre-servingnationallandinKorea.KeywordsSlopere-vegetationdesigncriteriaÆEnvironmentrestorationspecialistÆBaekduDaeganprotectionÆUrbanriverrestorationIntroductionKoreahaslongbeencalledGeum-su-gang-san.Thisreferstoabeautifullandasifembroideredwithsilkmountainsandrivers.Duetotherapideconomicdevelopmentandindustrializationsincethe1970s,Korea’snaturalecosystemshavebeendestroyed.Landuseandmanagementinthelast40yearshavefocusedonsupply-orienteddevelopmentsforeconomicefficiencyratherthanresourcesustainabilitybasedonecologicalplanning.Inthepast10years,forestsandagriculturalfieldshavediminishedbyatotalof479km2(MinistryofEnvironment2004a,b).MajoreffortsforthesystematicconservationofvitalecosystemsliketheBaekduDaeganMountainSystem,theDemilitarizedZone(DMZ),andN.C.KimDepartementofLandscapeArchitecture,SchoolofBio-ResourcesScience,DankookUniversity,Cheonan330-714,SouthKoreaE-mail:[e-mail].:[phone]Fax:[phone]LandscapeEcolEng(2005)1:77–83DOI10.1007/s11355-005-0011-3smallislandsandcoastalareasareunderwayaspartofnationalpoliciesforsustainabilityandbalancednationaldevelopment(MinistryofEnvironment2004a,b).Re-centeffortstothisendincludeanActrelatingtoBaekduDaeganMountainSystemProtectionenactedinDecemberof2003.Inaddition,fortheefficientuseandpreservationofnationalland,environment-friendlyconstructionprojectsarerequiredinKorea.TodayinKorea,mostpeoplearefamiliarwiththeterminology‘‘restoration’’sincetheNationalAssemblypassedalegislationtoprotecttheBaekduDaeganMountainSystemlastyear(MinistryofEnvironment2003).Moreover,theCheonggyecheonStreamResto-rationProjectiscurrentlyunderwayinthecapitalcitySeoul.Presently,theKoreanlocalgovernments,theMinistryofConstructionandTransportation(MOCT)andtheMinistryofEnvironment(MOE)areintroduc-ingdevelopmentoptionsthatconsiderecologicalpres-ervation.Inordertoprotectthenationalland,fourtypesofrestorationandpreservationplanshavebeenproposed:(1)therevisionofroadslopedesigncriteria,(2)thepromotionofrooftopre-vegetationandenhancementofgreenspaceinurbanareas,(3)therevisionofNationalEnvironmentalConservationLaw,and(4)theemploy-mentforthefirsttimeofenvironmentalspecialists.Koreastillignorestheissueofecologicalsuitabilityinselectingplantsforrevegatation.Inrestoringdamagedareas,Koreastilldependsheavilyonforeignspecies.Currently,theMOCTisintheprocessofrevisingthedesigncriteriafortheconstructionofroadslopestotakeinlocalcl