Signing of Letter of Intent on Forest Fire Management in 15 Asian Countries

On the 30th, the Korea Forest Service (KFS), led by Minister LIM Sang-seop, announced that a Letter of Intent for cooperation on forest fire management was signed between Korea and France at the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO) headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul. The signing ceremony was attended by Minister Lim Sang-seop, French Ambassador to Korea Philippe Bertoux, and AFoCO Executive Director Park Chongho.

In June of last year, during a summit between Korea and France, both countries recognized the importance of forests as carbon sinks in responding to the climate crisis and have been working to identify cooperative projects for managing forest fires in the Asian region, which has been experiencing frequent fires due to abnormal temperatures and forest degradation.

Under this agreement, Korea and France plan to operate degree programs and specialized training for forest fire management experts for the 15 Member Countries of AFoCO by 2030.

France, as an advanced forestry nation with a systematic training framework for forest fire experts, conducted two pilot training programs on forest fire management in collaboration with the KFS last year and this year.

Philippe Bertoux, the French Ambassador to Korea, who attended the signing ceremony on behalf of the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, expressed expectations for the collaboration, stating, “France’s valuable experience and efforts to reduce disaster risk in the Indo-Pacific region can play an important role in training forest fire experts in developing countries in Asia. I am very proud that we can promote this through cooperation with Korea’s ICT-based forest disaster management technology and experts, along with AFoCO.”

Minister LIM Sang-seop remarked, “Korea has built its capabilities not only through bilateral support but also by implementing the Assuring the Future of Forests with Integrated Risk Management (AFFIRM) initiative with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), based on its domestic response system and technology.” He added, “As a leading country in forest disaster management in Asia, I expect that training forest fire experts in collaboration with France will set a new milestone in international forest fire cooperation.”