 |
|
 |
|
|
 |
||||
| Wood
Products Trade Introduction North America Europe South America Asia Forests of the World Australia Brazil Canada Chile China Finland Germany Indonesia Japan Korea Mexico Russia United Kingdom Oregon's Forests Forestry Links |
The Forests of Korea | |||
| Korea is a heavily forested country, with 65% (6.5 million hectares)
of its total area covered with forest. Despite this, Korea is not yet self-sufficient
in wood. To large extent, this is because of a lack of mature timber. Korea
depends on timber imports from Indonesia, Malaysia, the US, New Zealand,
Chile and other countries to supply its domestic market and industries. The
Korean government has initiated a forest policy which will result in a well
stocked forest. As part of this policy, and in an effort to reduce abusive
harvests, there are now restrictions on cutting that apply to forest product
companies and individuals. As a result of the new forest policies, the total
standing volume increased to 257 mill. cbm in 1984, 70 % higher than 10 years
ago (152 mill. cbm).
Forty-five percent of Korean forests trees are conifers, among them Pinus densiflora and Korean pine. Broad-leaved forests include species such as oak, and occupy 28% of the total forest area. The other 27% is covered with mixed forest. By age class, young trees less than 20 years old amount 35% of the growing stock, while trees between the ages of 21 and represent 40%, and trees more than 31 years old are 25%. Harvestable standing volume is 65 mill. cbm. Average volume per hectare increased 3.7%, from 39.78 m3 to 38.36 m3 in the late 1970s. This is roughly equivalent to 4 times the volume (11.3m3/ha) in the 1970s when the government embarked on its current forest policy. The goal of the current silvicultural treatments that are being applied is the logical and efficient management of Korea's forest resource. As part of this objective, the government has realized the importance of mechanization in forest practice and has initiated forest road construction in most regions. Ownership of the forest is divided into two types: national forest, and other. National forest is mainly controlled by government organizations and institutes (such as the Forestry Administration) This area represents 1.4 mha, or 21.4% of the total forest area. Other forest ownership can be also separated into two groups by owner: public or private. Between these two types, the majority is private (71.0%). Regardless of forest type all management of forests in mountainous regions are controlled by government policy. Until now, because Korea has depended on imports for timber, most raw forest products, such as roundwood, lumber, plywood, and bamboo, are imported and manufactured into secondary products such as plywood, hardboard, particle board, medium density fiber, paper, and pulp. Most of these primary products are also consumed by the domestic market, and will continue to be until the forest is in better condition than at present. |
||||
|
