The photo shows a forest restoration site that is part of an overseas development assistance program between Korea and Honduras. (Korea Forest Service)
By Kim Seon Ah
The government will speed up overseas development assistance programs with countries in Latin America to share its expertise in forest restoration knowhow, said the Korea Forest Service (KFS) on Jan. 24. The ODA cooperation program will involve Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Guyana.
Having worked with Honduras since 2023 in the areas of agroforestry and a restoration project for forest landscapes, from this year the KFS will begin a project aimed at reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation plus (REDD+) in the country.
Regarding cooperation with El Salvador, the organization has been creating a fire tree belt to prevent forest fires and forest degradation, and carrying out agroforestry in the region along the 422-km long Lempa River. The KFS has been also supplying high-performance forest fire extinguishing equipment.
The KFS will build a sustainable production system for forest restoration, and tree nurseries in Guatemala. To this end, the organization has been focusing on education programs to boost the capacity of both the public and private sectors in the country for efficient forest management.
The body will work with the Global Green Growth Institute to help Guyana better respond to climate change and carry out an ecosystem restoration project for an approximately 120 ha of mangrove forest in order to prevent coastal erosion.
According to the body, the ongoing restoration project of this forest in the Mahaica coastal region of Guyana, is expected to reduce the size of tsunamis and boost biodiversity which will greatly improve the economic activities of local residents in fishing and farming.
These projects will help Guyana potentially reduce carbon emissions by an annual 1.12 million tons for the next 25 years, which will also contribute to Korea’s overseas carbon reduction through securing emission rights, the KFS said in a news release.
sofiakim218@korea.kr
