Dong-Gil Cho

Status and ecological resource value of the Republic of Korea's De-militarized Zone

This paper explores the status and value of ecological resources found in the De-militarized Zone (DMZ), an area of land separating North and South Korea, in terms of habitats and species. This approach contrasts with a conventional species-driven approach. There have been few surveys of ecological resources in the DMZ due to land mines and security issues. As such, there appear to be a number of less well known habitats and understudied and data deficient species within the DMZ. This paper seeks to improve knowledge of ecological resources within the DMZ by combining and synthesizing the author’s study results with the outcome of surveys of the DMZ conducted by various organizations. The paper also includes ecological mapping results. Conservation value is assessed using priorities identified by a number of Korean and foreign institutions. The conservation value of habitats, particularly of wetlands including peatland, is based on the Ramsar Site criteria, the International Peat Society criteria, and the designation criteria for the UNESCO World Natural Heritage and Biosphere Reserve. As in-depth studies on the functions of DMZ habitats are not available due to the constraints mentioned above, the habitat assessment is inevitably tentative. Species value is based on the IUCN’s Red Data Book (1997). This paper seeks to be used as material contributing to the conservation and sustainable use of the DMZ. In particular, this paper aims to aid in the designation of the DMZ as a World Natural Heritage site through the identification and suggestion of key or prime biodiversity areas within the DMZ. This is completed by using a model suggested by English Nature (UK) based on the aforementioned criteria.

Understanding the Managing Conditions and Improvement Strategies of Domestic Protected Areas in Korea - Focus on Ecological and Landscape Conservation Areas and Wetland Protected Areas -

This study is aimed at using the grasped problems of protected areas in Korea as the basic data for management planning and system improvement of protected areas by grasping realistic problems through the interview with the persons in charge on the basis of general problems of domestic protected areas. To this end, this study deducted major problems in urgent need of improvement, and improvement direction through the survey of the persons in charge of protected areas. This study result is as follows: The major problems, which should be preferentially improved, were found to be shortages of management infrastructure, cooperation between interested parties, and threat factors in protected areas, etc. Such problems are interconnected with each other, thus coming up complexly; therefore, it`s necessary to make a comprehensive approach to the problems after confirming the causal relationship of the identified problems. In addition, for the purpose of effective management of a protected area, it`s necessary to implement priority management of major problems through different management intensity from the planning phase. Also, it`s important to enhance the effectiveness of planning by considering a possible potential threat factor in the outside of protected areas, and referring to the contents of the development plan for the relevant area in time of management planning. Lastly, there is the need for systematic improvement of an institution through thorough status review of the actual state of management planning fulfillment in order to increase the effectiveness of planning in a follow-up study hereafter.This study is aimed at using the grasped problems of protected areas in Korea as the basic data for management planning and system improvement of protected areas by grasping realistic problems through the interview with the persons in charge on the basis of general problems of domestic protected are...