Deputy Minister Tae-hun Nam of the Korea Forest Service (KFS) participated in the 14th ROK-Central Asia Cooperation Forum held on November 30, 2021, in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Deputy Minister Nam introduced Korean forest sector’s ODA projects in Central Asia and asked for active participation in the XV World Forestry Congress (WFC) to be held on May 2-6, 2022, in Seoul, Korea.The ROK-Central Asia Cooperation Forum is a foreign ministerial-level forum launched in 2007. This year, the forum discussed over future cooperation direction between Korea and five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) in forest, health, and digital sectors to aim economic recovery in the post-COVID era.During the forest session, the KFS and forest governmental agencies of the five Central Asian countries and the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO) participated and reconfirmed the importance of forest restoration in drylands of Centr...

At UNFCCC COP26 held in Glasgow, United Kingdom in October 31-November 12, 2021, the Korea Forest Service (KFS) participated in the press conference of Global Forest Finance Pledge and hosted the Peace Forest Initiative (PFI) side event. The KFS Minister Byeong-am Choi announced to join the Global Forest Finance Pledge which collectively provides US$12 billion for forest-related climate finance to ODA eligible countries between 2021-2025.The UK, the hosting country of COP26, organized a Leader's event called 'Action on Forests and Land-use,' to emphasize the importance of restoration and conservation of forests and sustainable land-use. At this event, 'Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests and Land Use' and 'Global Forest Finance Pledge,' both of which the KFS has signed, were announced. The Global Forest Finance Pledge that committed the largest amount of financial support of advanced countries highlighted the value of forest as a global carbon sink and foundation...

P4G Seoul Summit 2021 Special Breakout Session on ForestsOn May 18th 2021, the Korea Forest Service organized a Special Breakout Session on Forests during the Green Future Week of the P4G Seoul Summit 2021, under the theme of “Forests for Global Net-Zero and Peace.” The session focused on the role of forests as a major carbon sink, and discussed the current status and future direction of the world’s forestry sector.The session’s keynote speakers, presenters, and panelists included Minister Byeong-am CHOI of the KFS, Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw of the UNCCD, Senator Chris Coons of the U.S., Director General Qu Dongyu of the FAO, Mr. Alex Rudee of the WRI, Mr. Kim Hyung-soo, the CEO of Tree Planet, Ambassador Frode Solberg of Norway to Korea, Executive Director Ricardo L. Calderon of AFoCO, Deputy Minister Milagros De Camps of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of the Dominican Republic, Director German Velasquez of the GCF, and Mr. Chung In-bo, the CEO of SK...