Thanks to the welcome spring rains, news broke that wildfires across the country had been extinguished on Arbor Day morning. But you can't expect this kind of spring rain help, for a long time. In the era of climate crisis, forest management is needed to prevent increasingly violent forest fires. Due to our geology, we are much more difficult to cultivate forests than other countries. What are we talking about?
Why is it important?
You've seen videos of the continental United States and the forests of Europe. Something like a certain tree species, like birch, filling a vast area. On the other hand, the "original" characteristic of the forests of the Korean Peninsula is that many tree species have taken root in various ways. I used the word 'originally' because in the process of artificial afforestation of forests that have been degraded since 6.25, many specific coniferous species such as pine and pine trees have been planted, and much of the same diversity has been damaged.
This diversity gap dates back in time to the last ice age 2,<> years ago. The Korean Peninsula, unlike the Americas and Kuju, did not go through this ice age. Thanks to this, the highest degree of plant diversity has been preserved than in any other region. That's why even if you go to just one small hinterland, there are dozens of species of trees growing on it. Based on this variety of flora, forest microbes, insects, and animals have been able to maintain the ecosystem.
Therefore, instead of planting pine trees as in the past, we should be reforesting to restore the existing diversity in consideration of our climate environment. In short, it's a difficult task.
To explain a bit more
Since our afforestation know-how has been focused only on pine trees, we do not have enough experience in tree species such as hardwoods other than pines. There is also the problem that in the case of hardwoods, it is difficult to transplant seedlings due to the fact that the roots are straight down.
There is another reason why we are even more disadvantaged when it comes to forestry in the age of climate crisis. In our case, the depth of the soil in the forest is shallow. Shallow soil is a problem because it is vulnerable to landslides. Among the natural disasters caused by climate change, typhoons and heavy rains in summer are typhoons. Experts say that there are not many places in the world where the risk of landslides is as high as ours. What's more, as many trees have been wiped out by wildfires, the pillars that used to hold the shallow soil have been uprooted, raising the need for landslides. We're going to have to adapt to these different characteristics and follow the principles of afforestation.
One more step
You've heard at least once that climate change and wildfires are linked. I do. As temperatures are higher than in the past, the environment in the forest has become hot and dry, contributing to the multitude of wildfires. But that's not the end of it.
Forests are a major greenhouse gas sink. It's a huge reservoir of carbon, from the trees to the grass and branches on the ground to the soil.