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Ognyeo Peak in Yeoncheon County

After parts of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) in Yeoncheon County in Gyeonggi Province and Cheorwon, Hwacheon, Yanggu, Inje, and Goseong Counties in Gangwon Province were registered as UNESCO biosphere reserves this past June, the local governments are rolling up their sleeves to utilize and conserve the areas in question.

Yeoncheon County announced on Oct. 4 that it’s designating 2020 as the “Year of Visiting Yeoncheon,” with the goal of attracting 10 million tourists. “We will seize this as an opportunity for making the nation aware of the outstanding natural and ecological system around the DMZ in Yeoncheon,” the county said.

The Yeoncheon Imjin River Biosphere Reserve occupies 584.12 square kilometers (including a core area of 63.69 square kilometers, a buffer zone of 208.1 square kilometers, and a cooperative area of 312.33 square kilometers), which represents the entire county of Yeoncheon County, except for the DMZ itself.

The core region is a forest genetic resource reserve area and cultural heritage reserve area centering on the Imjin River, with a buffer zone including an area of 100m on either side of the Imjin and Hantan waterways and the surrounding national forest preserve. Cooperation zones including residential areas and farmland where ongoing management and usage of the core and buffer regions.

Following the registration of the Imjin River Biosphere Reserve, Yeoncheon is awaiting registration of Hantan River Geopark next April. If Gyeonggi Province’s attempted registration of the DMZ as World Heritage comes to pass, Yeoncheon will join Jeju Province in achieving South Korea’s second-ever “hat trick” of UNESCO crowns. Geoparks are regions that require protection for their geologically outstanding value; a total of 140 are currently designated in 40 countries.

Gangwon Province, whose Gangwon Eco-Peace Biosphere Reserve has been designated alongside Yeonchon’s, is also working on its usage plans, with a discussion held on Oct. 1 in the National Assembly on biosphere reserve usage strategies. In a presentation on Oct. 4, Park Sang-yong, a researcher with the Research Institute for Gangwon, said, “The border region now needs to assume a new identity as an eco-peace core region for the Korean Peninsula.”

“With UNESCO Biosphere Reserve registration, we’ll be able to envision various things, including joint South and North Korean ecology and environment efforts,” Park said. As one potential idea, he named the building of a “Baekdu Mountains Biosphere Reserve Belt” connecting the border region in Gangwon Province with Mt. Kumgang in North Korea.

A biosphere reserve is a region selected for protection by UNESCO for its globally outstanding ecosystem; a total of 686 have been designated worldwide in 122 countries. South Korea currently has six: Mt. Seorak, Jeju Island, Sinan Dadohae, Gwangneung Forest, Gochang, and Suncheon.

By Park Kyung-man, North Gyeonggi correspondent

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