 A walking trail in Seoul’s Mt. Bukhan / Korea Times file |
By Bae Ji-sook
Walking and trekking have always been in vogue here, and with more people becoming attracted to the activities, the demand for trails with a good environment and convenient facilities is soaring higher than ever.
To capitalize on this boom, provincial governments are jumping on the trail development bandwagon to the point of raising concerns of overheating.
The “Baugil” trail in Gangwon Province ranges 120 kilometers over the best spots of the mountainous area, while “Dulegil” on Mt. Jiri is visited by hundreds of thousands of people a month.
Even the Demilitarized Zone is being turned into a 120-kilometer walking course for local residents and visitors. Another trail known as “Dulegil” on Mt. Bukhan in Seoul, has recently seen 1.2 million visitors in the two months since it opened.
It is said that thousands of trails are being created or under development at this very moment, at a cost of billions of won.
The Ministry of Environment is planning to create a total of 1,000 kilometers of trails in several forests, mountains and national parks by 2012. Separately, the forestry authorities plan to create 1,200 kilometers of trails by 2014.
The origin of this rather hyped passion started with “Ole Gil” on Jeju Island. Inspired by the 800-kilometer philosophical walking route Camino de Santiago in Spain, former journalist Seo Myung-sook wrote about 22 trails on the southern resort island in 2007.
She said she wanted to share the beautiful nature and scenery Jeju has to offer. According to the local administration, about 350,000 people annually visit the island to share Seo’s experience.
Hotels, car rental firms and restaurants along the popular trails have seen their revenues rise by more than 30 percent.
Moreover, as this tourism involves no travel agent, the money visitors pay goes directly to the service provider.
Samsung Economic Research Institute selected “Ole Gil” as one of the hit items of 2008. It encouraged administrators to acknowledge that walking trails are not only a new revenue source but also can enhance their image as a green community.
However, experts raised several issues that stem from the sudden fever.
More than anything else, analysts cite the environmental damage that too many human visitors can cause. Seo, founder of the Jeju Ole Foundation, admitted that the environmental health of several trails has been severely damaged — visitors often leave trash and pick flowers or plants.
Local governments, apparently buoyed by the success of the trails, have paved some of the courses with basalt. “This could pose a serious threat to nature,” Seo said.
Some other governments developing trails have also used asphalt or cement pavements to induce more visitors to visit.
“Human contact could lead to extreme stress for some creatures. Littering, throwing cigarette butts and picking plants is not acceptable. Also, paving cement roads is against the spirit of Ole, environmentally-friendly trekking,” said professor Chang Ho-chan of Korea National Open University.
Conflict with the local residents is also a problem. In the case of Dulegil on Mt. Bukhan, more than 70 percent of the trails are owned by individuals.
The National Park Service has reportedly failed to get usage approval from all of them and the environmental damage could become the source of disputes, experts said.
With half a million people visiting the trails every month, the extreme noise and litter are irritating residents, too.
Insufficient toilets are also posing big problems. There are only 27 toilets on the 44-kilometer course and some hasty trekkers trespass into residents’ toilets or attend to nature’s call on the streets.
“Local and central governments have been rushing into projects without properly considering the surrounding environment and conditions.
When we first started, it was much more of a humble and natural movement and the administrators should bear that in mind,” Seo said.
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