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Sat, March 6, 2021 | 08:19
Siberian tigers to be released in Bonghwa
봉화에 시베리아 호랑이 방사
Posted : 2012-03-16 18:23
Updated : 2012-03-16 18:23
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A Siberian tiger named Geumgangat Daejeon O World in this November photo Korea Times
By Kim Rahn

A couple of Siberian tigers will be released on a mountain range in Bonghwa, North Gyeongsang Province, in 2014 following the opening of an arboretum there.

The Korea Forest Service announced the plan to free the tigers into the wild there during a groundbreaking ceremony Friday for the National Baekdu-daegan Arboretum.

The Siberian tiger, also called a Mt. Baekdu tiger, will roam the Baekdu-daegan, which is a mountain range stretching from Mt. Baekdu in North Korea to Mt. Jiri in the South, referred to as the spine of the Korean Peninsula.

“We aim to free the Siberian tigers as a symbolic animal in Baekdu-daegan and preserve the species,” an official for the forest agency said.

Wild tigers are believed to be extinct on the Korean Peninsula.

A 6,000-square-meter “tiger forest” will be formed in the arboretum on Mt. Munsu at about 1,205 meters above sea level, in a thickly-wooded area with pines and other trees, according to the agency.

The two animals — five-year-old tiger Geumgang and six-year-old tigress Geumsong — were donated by China’s State Forestry Administration last October in gratitude for its Korean counterpart’s anti-desertification efforts there.

They are currently at Daejeon O World and will be moved to the forest in the latter half of 2014.

For people’s safety, the habitat will be encircled with 5 to 6 meters of electric wire fences, a height tigers cannot jump over. Visitors will be able to view the tigers from observatories to be set up around the area.

“In the long term, we plan to increase the population to 30 through breeding and expand the forest to 10 times the current size,” the agent said.

Besides the tiger forest, the 51-square-kilometer arboretum will have a facility to store forest plant seeds, a botanical garden with climate indicator plants and research centers for mountain flora.

It will be committed to preserving plants, preserving and restoring the forest ecosystem in Baekdu-daegan and providing education on forests.

봉화에 시베리아 호랑이 방사
자연생태계의 핵심축인 백두대간에 아시아 최대 규모의 고산수목원이 들어선다. 멸종된 것으로 알려진 백두산 호랑이도 이곳에서 다시 뛰놀게 될 전망이다. 경상북도는 16일 오전 봉화군 춘양면 서벽리 수목원 사업부지에서 백두대간의 산림자원화를 위한 ‘국립백두대간수목원 조성사업’의 역사적인 첫 삽을 뜬다. 국립백두대간수목원은 부지면적 5천179ha(중점시설지구 206ha)에 국비 2천515억원이 투입되는 대단위 국책사업으로 지난해 기본·실시설계 및 토지보상을 완료했다. 올해부터는 전시원 조성 및 건축공사가 본격 추진돼 2014년도에 개원할 예정이다. 주요시설은 ▲기후변화지표식물원 ▲산림종자영구저장시설(Seed Vault) ▲고산식물연구동 등이 있고, 기후변화에 취약한 한대·고산 식물의 보존·증식 및 연구, 백두대간 산림생태계의 체계적 보존·복원, 국내외 유용식물자원의 확보 및 자원화, 산림생태 교육·탐방 등 다양한 국민서비스를 제공한다. 향후 UN식량농업기구(FAO)의 공인시설로 인정받게 될 산림종자영구저장시설은 세계 각국으로부터 산림종자를 기탁 받음으로써 종자에 관한 원천기술 확보에 기여할 것으로 기대된다. 백두산 호랑이를 자연 상태에 가까운 환경에서 방사해 종을 복원하는 노력도 추진된다. 중국서 들여와 현재 서울대공원에서 키우고 있는 시베리아 호랑이 암수 한쌍을 이곳 '호랑이의 숲(가칭)'에 풀어놓는다는 계획이다. 경북도 관계자는 “지금까지는 백두대간이 경제발전을 가로막는 제약요건으로 여겨졌으나 수목원 조성을 계기로 산림생태자원 보호·육성과 함께 낙후된 경북 북부지역 경제 활성화 및 일자리 창출에 크게 기여할 것으로 기대된다”고 말했다. 백두대간은 백두산, 금강산, 지리산을 연결하는 한반도의 생태축일 뿐만 아니라 옛 영토인 드넓은 만주벌판으로 뻗어가는 한민족의 기상을 대변하는 산줄기다. 이 가운데 경북도 구간은 봉화 부소산에서 김천 상도봉까지 315km에 이르고, 행정구역상으로는 6개 시·군 30개 읍·면이 포함되는 광활한 면적을 자랑한다. 백두대간수목원은 우리나라 자연생태계의 핵심축인 백두대간을 잘 보전하고 풍부한 산림자원을 활용하기 위해 경북도가 기획, 중앙정부에 건의하고 설득한 끝에 산림청과 뜻을 모아 추진하게 된 사업이다. 경북도는 나아가 산림자원을 지역경제의 축으로 육성하기 위해 국립백두대간테라피단지(영주·예천), 산림탄소순환마을조성(봉화), 백두대간 생태축복원(상주·문경), 낙동정맥트레일조성, 산림생태문화체험단지(영덕), 낙동강 풍경소리숲길 등 다양한 산림비즈니스사업을 지속 추진할 계획이다.
Emailrahnita@koreatimes.co.kr Article ListMore articles by this reporter









 
 
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