A working paper produced by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) in collaboration with the Korea Forest Service draws lessons learned from the Republic of Korea's experience in formulating and implementing integrated forest rehabilitation and food security policies and programmes.
May 2016: A working paper produced by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) in collaboration with the Korea Forest Service draws lessons learned from the Republic of Korea’s experience in formulating and implementing integrated forest rehabilitation and food security policies and programmes.
Titled ‘Integrating Policy for Forests, Food Security and Sustainable Livelihoods: Lessons from the Republic of Korea,’ the study demonstrates how implementation of two ten-year forest rehabilitation plans in the 1970s and 1980s not only restored the country’s forest cover, but also delivered food security benefits and contributed to national economic development. These goals were achieved by integrating forestry, rural development and community mobilization in the rehabilitation policy. The study demonstrates how the rehabilitation plans incorporated food and nutrition objectives and how forest rehabilitation contributed to satisfying the four dimensions of four security: food availability, food access, food utilization and stability of food security. It concludes that this experience may provide inspiration for other developing countries wishing to incorporate forest rehabilitation and sustainable forest management in their food security goals and policies.
The study is based on existing literature, secondary data and structured interviews with people from a wide range of perspectives, from policy-makers to project participants and villagers. It describes the national situation before rehabilitation, which was characterized by acute forest degradation and deforestation, poverty and food insecurity, and large-scale conversion of forest land to agricultural land; and provides an overview of the country’s two ten-year forest rehabilitation plans and implementation mechanisms. It analyzes the impact of forest rehabilitation on food security, and outlines lessons learned, including on promoting an integrated approach to forest rehabilitation and a holistic economic and social development approach, as well as the importance of both a strong leadership and of mobilizing people. [Publication: Integrating Policy for Forests, Food Security and Sustainable Livelihoods: Lessons from the Republic of Korea]