South Chungcheong turns wildfire-scarred land into model forest for future income, carbon neutrality

South Chungcheong Province is pursuing a long-term restoration plan for areas devastated by a major wildfire — one that goes beyond simple recovery to rebuild the public functions of its forests and lay the groundwork for sustainable forest management.

Provincial authorities announced Monday that they are developing the Hongseong-gun forest, which suffered 1,337 hectares of damage in a large wildfire in April 2023, into a "future forest income model forest" — a site designed to generate long-term forest revenue while advancing carbon neutrality and disaster prevention.

A reforestation project covering 840 hectares, launched in 2024, wrapped up this year. Of the remaining affected land, 297 hectares designated for natural recovery are being left to natural succession, while areas outside the 200 hectares slated for other development uses are undergoing systematic restoration.

Key species planted include hinoki cypress, pine, larch, sawtooth oak, tulip tree, Japanese raisin tree, castor aralia, angelica tree and lacquer tree — a mix chosen to strengthen carbon absorption capacity and generate future forest income.

Alongside this, the province has built erosion-control infrastructure to guard against secondary disasters such as landslides, including 8.5 hectares of hillside erosion control, 1.7 kilometers of stream conservation works and one erosion-control dam.

To ensure the quality of restoration planting, authorities are also conducting on-site inspections of reforestation work at wildfire-damaged areas. The current round covers 36 sites in total — including land burned in the 2022 Seosan wildfire and areas hit by fires in Boryeong, Dangjin, Geumsan, Buyeo and Hongseong-gun in 2023.

The Korea Forest Service, the province and local governments conducted a joint inspection in Hongseong-gun on May 28. For remaining affected sites, the province and local governments are strengthening field-focused inspections based on self-assessment results submitted by individual municipalities.

"Restoring wildfire-damaged land is not simply about replanting trees — it is a process of designing the forest of the future," said Kim Yeong-myeong, director of South Chungcheong Province's environment and forestry bureau. "We will develop the Hongseong wildfire site into a 'future forest income model forest' that supports climate response, carbon neutrality and the foundation for sustainable forest management."