Governor Kim Tae-ho
South Gyeongsang Province |
By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
South Gyeongsang Province has been chosen as the host of the 10th United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) congress in 2011. The decision was made at the 9th UNCCD session in Buenos Aires, Friday.
“Korea has demonstrated the excellent example of reviving its devastated forestry,” Luc Gnacadja, UNCCD executive secretary, said. “Based on such unique expertise, we expect to see Korea making a great contribution toward the prevention of desertification by hosting the 10th UNCCD congress.”
The UNCCD was established in 1994 to support a new, integrated approach to preventing desertification, emphasizing action to promote sustainable development worldwide. It has a membership of 193 countries, and Korea joined the convention in 1999.
The Korean delegation to the session in Buenos Aires included senior officials from the Korea Forest Service (KFS).
The KFS said that Korea’s forestation projects, along with its international cooperation at the private and state levels with China, Mongolia, Indonesia and others for countering desertification, were the deciding factors in bringing the UNCCD to Korea.
“Desertification has not yet been recognized as urgent, despite its dire consequences in some parts of the world. However, we hope to change such perceptions through hosting this important event,” a KFS official said.
Northeast Asia, including North Korea, is one of the regions increasingly faced with the degradation of land in some arid and dry sub-humid areas.
Every year in Northeast Asia, an area equaling 30 percent of the size of Gyeonsang Province (11,859 square kilometers) is wasted due to desertification.
The southeastern province has made consistent preparations for the UNCCD congress, particularly since hosting the Ramsar Convention in November 2008, which provided a framework for cooperation on the conservation and utilization of wetlands and their resources.
The first of its sessions to be held in Asia, the 10th UNCCD is expected to bolster the province’s image as a leader in dealing with environmental issues.
“Our success with the Ramsar Convention has given us the confidence to assert ourselves as the future ‘environmental capital’ of Korea,” Governor Kim Tae-ho said. “My province is vigorously pursuing Korea’s priority of the ’low-carbon, green-growth’ policy.”
jhdo@koreatimes.co.kr
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