(Unofficial Translation)

Your Royal Highness Princess Basma bint Ali of Jordan, Director-General Qu Dongyu of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, forestry professionals from across the world,

Congratulations on the opening of the 15th World Forestry Congress. I extend my heartfelt welcome to everyone visiting Seoul for this event and to those who are joining us online.

The COVID-19 pandemic starkly reminds us of the magnitude of coexisting harmoniously with nature. Since its establishment about a century ago, the World Forestry Congress has been at the forefront of forest preservation and restoration efforts. Its dedicated work seems to be now more important than ever.

Today, for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic, forestry professionals from around the world have gathered in one place. It is a great pleasure to get together in preparation for the next 100 years with a view to “Building a Green, Healthy and Resilient Future with Forests.”

Forestry professionals from around the world,

Forests themselves are living ecosystems and treasure troves of biodiversity, the habitat for about 80 percent of land animals and plants. Harnessing the resilience and abundance of forests, we have obtained the food, timber and fuel necessary for our survival and prosperity. Imagination inspired by forests has helped us create diverse religions, literature and the arts.

It is lamentable that these forests, the source of life, are now disappearing. Global forests are decreasing by some 4.7 million hectares per year, an expanse some 80 times the size of Seoul in the Republic of Korea. The total forest area reduced over the past 30 years amounts to 180 million hectares, eight times the size of the Korean Peninsula.

Our crisis with forests is a crisis for all humanity. Reduction in forest lands, which are living greenhouse gas sinks and also preserve water, has accelerated the climate crisis and prompted a surge of natural disasters. The shrinking natural habitat has also increased contact between wild animals and human beings, raising the risks of emerging infectious diseases like COVID-19. Hundreds of millions of people who rely on forests for their living are also finding the very foundations of their livelihoods being shaken.

Preserving and caring for dense forests are a responsibility all of us share as members of the community of life on earth. These tasks are all about building a sustainable future for the next generation.

In November last year, 141 heads of state and government gathered in Glasgow and reached an agreement to work together on halting forest loss and restoring forests by 2030. Now is the time to formulate an implementation plan and take action collectively.

We need sweeping changes to many things, ranging from our habitual lifestyles to the economy and society at large. These are not easy tasks. Only when we find ways to create new income sources and jobs while conserving and caring for forests will it be possible for us to guarantee sustained support and participation from the people and businesses in all countries.

It is also very important that advanced and developing countries keep pace in lockstep. Developing countries need to increase agricultural and industrial lands by clearing forests and foster industries by utilizing forest reserves. For this reason, the goal of forest conservation and restoration is bound to weigh them down heavily. For their part, the advanced countries may find it difficult to add new forests as they have already developed and urbanized many areas.

Advanced and developing countries must cooperate vigorously and shoulder burdens together while understanding how their respective circumstances differ from one another so we can all move together toward the sustainable prosperity that will benefit both forests and human beings.

Forestry professionals from around the world,

The Korean people have actually experienced the pain of forest destruction caused by colonial rule and war. In the post-war period, we took a hard look at our devastated landscape and realized how important forests are to our lives. The Korean people came together to plant over 10 billion trees and turned our mountains and fields green again. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization once described Korea as “the only developing country that succeeded in reforestation after World War II.”

Korea will build upon this experience in achieving reforestation through solidarity and cooperation to participate actively in the international community’s efforts to preserve and cultivate forests around the world.

First, we will contribute to financing reforestation in developing countries. Korea intends to more than double its official development assistance by 2030. Its ODA for the forestry field will also be expanded accordingly. We will fulfill our commitment to donating US$60 million, as promised when we participated in the Global Forest Finance Pledge last year.

Second, we will help developing countries utilize their forest resources in a sustainable way. While supporting the mangrove forest restoration project in Vietnam, Korea is concurrently providing eco-friendly aquaculture technology that uses the mud flats of the forest. The revived trees will supply nutrients that help aquatic creatures thrive and generate new jobs for local residents. These residents will also put greater effort into forest conservation in a bid to continuously generate income.

Beyond simply providing financial support, we will help people in developing countries live in harmony with forests going forward. A range of cooperative business models such as eco-tourism, recreational forests and agroforestry will be developed.

Third, we will also do everything possible to expand our own forests at home. Korea aims to double greenhouse gas absorption by forests as a nature-based solution for the 2050 carbon neutrality goal. Trees will be planted on idle lands; urban forests will be cultivated, and the forest area expanded. In particular, our comprehensive support plan ranges from the formation of economic forests to the expansion of related infrastructure so that circular forest management–which involves planting, cultivating and harvesting more trees–can be increased.

Various Korean businesses are already engaged in ESG management by participating in afforestation and forestry related technology development. A growing number of companies are also taking interest in participating in overseas forest conservation projects.

We will create successful case studies of forest expansion through public-private partnerships and share them with the international community.

Director-General Qu Dongyu, forestry professionals from around the world,

One of the two seed vaults that exist in the world is located in Bonghwa-gun County, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, approximately 200 kilometers away from Seoul. It is a modern version of Noah’s Ark that preserves botanical genetic resources in preparation for global catastrophes such as natural disasters and nuclear explosions.

The seed vault’s cellars not only contain 60,000 species of wild plant seeds but also embody the hopes of all of us who care for future generations and love the earth.

Just as trees live in harmony to form green forests, we will be able to build a sustainable, green future if our hearts of caring for forests and nature come together as one.

Let us step up our action by pooling our minds and wisdom to advance toward a new era where humans and nature coexist in harmony. The 15th World Forestry Congress will serve as the starting point.

Thank you.