- Minister of the Korea Forest Service Holds Bilateral Meeting with CBD Executive Secretary

The Korea Forest Service (KFS) announced on April 25 that Minister LIM Sang-seop held a bilateral meeting with Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), at the National Institute of Forest Science (NIFoS) in Seoul. The meeting focused on the current status and future direction of international cooperation, including the Forest Ecosystem Restoration Initiative (FERI).

Launched in 2015, FERI has supported the global biodiversity goals of the CBD by strengthening forest restoration capabilities in developing countries and providing technical tools and capacity-building assistance.

FERI, active from 2015 to 2025 with a total budget of KRW 5.6 billion, supports developing countries in formulating national restoration plans, technical cooperation, and capacity development to advance the implementation of CBD goals.

During the meeting, Minister LIM emphasized Korea’s experience in successfully restoring forests after the Korean War and highlighted the country’s contributions to the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF).

Executive Secretary Schomaker acknowledged the accomplishments of FERI, citing its role in restoring 925 hectares of forests across 12 developing countries, including Colombia and Cambodia. She recognized FERI as a flagship initiative for enhancing restoration capacity and supporting biodiversity objectives.

She also expressed gratitude for Korea’s decade-long support and emphasized the need for continued engagement and collaborative efforts, especially as the third phase of the initiative is set to begin in 2026 and continue through 2030.

Minister LIM expressed hope that Korea’s ongoing efforts in forest and ecosystem restoration through FERI would be shared widely with the international community, and reaffirmed Korea’s commitment to multifaceted cooperation in achieving global biodiversity targets.