DLDD MITIGATION ACTIVITIES AND
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF
KOREA
INTRODUCTION
The country is occupied with mountains
and hills of nearly 80%
Temperate climate, annual mean
precipitation: 1000 mm or so prone to
soil erosion in sloping lands
Severe drought in Spring and heavy
rain in July and August
Land use Status
Mountainous occupies 80% of its
2%
6%
2%
15%
2%
73%
Forest
Settlement
Agriculture
Industry
Water body
Other
Deforestation and forest
degradation
4
Land degradation in farmland
- Soil erosion in sloping fields
Much soil and nutriments are
lost by run-off, wind, gravity.
Soil loss
Nutritive elements wash off
Soil humus is very low.
- Re-salinization of tidal paddy
Rice yield is lower
- Drought and Flood damages
 In spring season, severe drought damage.
Many non-paddy fields suffer much more damage by
flood after severe drought.
 In rainy season, severe flood damages.
.
Correlation between
Land degradation and Climate change
- Climate change accelerates land degradation
Air temperature is 1.9℃ increased by warming
 Extreme weather (heavy rain, drought)
 Sea level rise, rising of ground water level
 Increased soil erosion and land slides
 Increased natural disasters (water shortage, floods, drought damage)
 Inundation of tideland
 Corruption of equilibrium of ecosystem; Change of tree cultivation
with economic value boundary
- Land degradation influences to climate change
Land degradation – removing of vegetation – decline carbon
stock – reduce carbon absorption capacity – accelerate global
warming
 Contribution to climate change of land use: 25%
Thus,
Mitigation of Land degradation: win-win practice for climate
change adaptation and mitigation
IMPACTS OF DEFORESTATION AND
DEGRADATION
 Reduction of soil productivity
 Reduction of forest resources
 Weakness of regeneration capability
 Decline water control capacity
 Increase soil erosion
 Floods
 Biodiversity loss due to fragmentation of
ecosystem and destruction of habitats
Shortage of
Food, Fuel &
Timber
Decline of
local
economic &
livelihood
Increase of disasters,
Reduction of
productivity,
Biodiversity loss
Main causes of Land Degradation
Cause-Status-Impacts Analysis
Impact
Food Security
Influe
nce
Decreased natural
resources
Sustainability of
natural resources
Poverty
Decreased land productivity
Status Forest degradation
-Decreased forest cover
-Erosion & land slide
-Decreased organic
matter
-Decreased regeneration
capacity
-Decreased water
conservation capacity
-Decreased biodiversity
Agricultural land degradation
-Loss of agricultural land
-Erosion & decreased fertility
-Acidification, resalinization
-Decreased water conservation
capacity & drought
-Water logging, increased
ground water level
-Soil pollution
Direct Deforestation & land use
cause change
-conversion to cultivation
land
-conversion to grazing
land
-conversion to
construction land for
infrastructure
Unsustainable forest
management
-over logging(wood, fuel
wood, NTFP, extraction of
soil humus)
-ecological unsound
cutting method
-pest damage
Lack of institutional capacity
Root
cause
Instituti
policy/
onal Subsidiary Financial
legislation arrange means
sources
ment
Scientific
resources
Living Environment
Decreased
regenerative
capacity
Land of
settlement
-Soil erosion
-Sand storm
Loss of arable
land
-development of
infrastructure
-erosion,
sedimentation
-land falling in
coal mining sites
Natural
Disasters
Global Warming
Biodiversity
Fluctuation of water
control function
Decreased
carbon pool
Decreased social
value
Land for industrial
use
-Erosion from road
side slope
-Erosion from mining
residue sites
-Soil pollution
Land covered
with water body
-siltation
-pollution
Other land
-degradation of
marginal land of
protected areas
Unsustainable manag
ement agriculture
-lack of soil
conservation
-mono culture &
successive culture
-chemical fertility &
pesticide use
-use of solid wastes
-lack of water
Water
resources
management
-flood control
-drought
damage
-pollution
Lack of
adaptation
capacity in
climate change
-flood damage
-drought damage
-extreme weather
Global
environme
Populati Lack of
Shortage of
nt change
External
Human
Public
on
arable
energy
especially
pressure
resource awarenes growth
land
sources
climate
s
s
change
Constraints
- Continuous deforestation and forest degradation to solve
food shortage and fuel wood
- Soil erosion, decreased soil fertility, soil productivity
- Weakness of resilience of land to climate change, flood,
drought
- Poor healthy of pure conifer stands, pest outbreak
- Biodiversity loss due to land degradation
- Unsound waste treatment in coal mining, mineral mining
area factories, enterprises, and soil pollution
- Water logging of land relation to infrastructure construction
Policy related to land management
National policy
- Greening of whole country
- Integrated use of mountains
National planning
 National Land Construction Master Plan
 Forest Development Master Plan
 Rotational timber logging plan
 Annual aforestation/reforestation plan
National and social activities
 General turn-out period for land management in
spring and autumn
 Afforestation/reforestation by whole people
 Forest management through distributed
management responsibilities among local
communities and institutions
Legislation related to land management
 Land Law, DPRK (29th April, 1977)
 Law on the Environment Protection, DPRK (9th
April, 1986)
 Law on the Land Use Planning, DPRK (27th
March, 2002)
 Forest Law, DPRK (11th December, 1992)
 Law on the Agriculture, DPRK (18th December,




1998)
Law on the Water Resources, DPRK (18th June,
1997)
Law on the Environment Impact Assessment,
DPRK (9th November, 2005)
Law on Rivers and Streams, DPRK (27th
November, 2002)
Law on Natural Protection Areas, DPRK (25th
November, 2009)
Government’s Efforts to Mitigate DLDD
DPRK ratified UNCCD (2004) and prepared and validated the National Action
Programme to Combat Desertification/Land Degradation (June 2006).
Main Activities for implementation of NAP
- Government policy: Mountain and water treatment, reforestation and
greening of the whole country
- Rehabilitation and improvement of more than damaged, capacity of seedling
production –/year
- General turn out months for land treatment, more than of reforestation/year,
mitigated deforestation and forest degradation
- Several tens km dykes built and repaired to prevent natural disasters and
rehabilitate damaged areas
- Agroforestry development and extension
- Organic farming, conservation farming for enhancement
of soil humus and fertility
- Terracing with protection grass belt to control soil
erosion in sloping land
 Constructed gravity-fed water canals for providing
irrigation water to the agricultural land
 Included watershed management and agro-forestry in
curriculum of Agricultural Universities and Colleges
AF Policy of the Government
△ Necessity
‐Natural and geographical characteristics
o 80% mountainous, complex topography➡Limited arable land
o Geographical location ➡high risk of natural disaster
‐Situation
o Continuous economic sanctions by outside forces
o Economic difficulties since mid 1990s
o Consecutive natural disasters
‐For building a powerful socialist state
o Food security, people’s livelihood, sustainable
development of the economy
o Disaster Risk Reduction, protection of ecological environment,
landscape improvement
△ National Policies
‐Make good use of the mountains in the mountainous regions and the sea in the
coastal regions!
‐All-out mass movement for more arable lands!
‐Well-regulated discipline of land use for maximized effectiveness!
‐Development of fruit culture and sericulture, creation of more
economic forests!
‐Comprehensive utilization of mountains, development of
local economies!
‐Rural development, rural people’s livelihood improvement!
‐All mountains into gold and treasure mountain!
‐Afforestation and greening of the whole country!
‐Environmental protection, prevention of natural disasters such
as flood!
‐Development of agriculture and light industry, food security and
people’s livelihood improvement!
△ Agroforestry as national policy
‐Main purpose
o To solve food shortage problem and promote reforestation on immediate
terms
o To contribute to the conservation of eco-environment and the sustainable
development of the economy on long terms
‐Measures
o Provision of legal basis
o Systematization, AF on a scientific basis
o In a planned way on a long-term perspective
o Raising public awareness, AF as an all-out mass campaign
o Strengthening scientific research on AF development
o Enhanced education for training AF experts
△ State measures for AF extension
‐Demonstration show, introduction and propaganda by means of
newspapers, radio and news
‐Provision of legal guarantee
o Amendment and supplement of the Forest Law Article 19,
Issuance of rules and regulations
‐Guidance system on the nationwide scale
o From the national level to the provincial, city and county levels,
establishment of non-standing consulting bodies and standing executive bodies
‐Thorough survey of AF plots and preparation of a far-reaching plan
‐AF extension as an all-out mass movement, nationwide movement
o Various economic methods (guarantee of the right to use forest land
and the right to the disposal of products)
‐Strengthening of scientific research and training of AF extension workers
Overall Objective
Through the extension of good AF experiences in model
sites to the nationwide scale
 To solve urgent food problem and recover
damaged forest ecosystem
 Furthermore, to achieve eco-environment
conservation and sustainable development of the
economy
Purpose of applying AF
To protect
environment
(conservation)
To gain high yield
(production)
Sustainable development
Road Map for the Preparation of the AF NAP
 Organization of the National Working Group
 Field survey throughout the whole country
 Identification of provincial priority projects
 Identification of strategic targets of the AF NAP and national priority
 Preparation of the AF National Strategy and Action Plan
 Preparation of the Financial Strategy for the implementation of the AF NAP
 Endorsement of the draft by the Government
On-going …
 Development of AF National Strategy and Action Plan supported by
SDC (2014)

Food security and disaster prevention for sloping land user
groups(SLUS) in 3 Counties of North Phyongan Province (EUPS 4,
2013-2014)
Prepare …
 Natutal disaster prevention through introduction agroforestry and
waterwhed management
 AR/CDM and preparation to attend in REDD+ Programme
 UNCCD NAP Alingment
Challenges to DLDD Mitigation
 Lack of awareness/advocacy and institutional capacity for
mitigation of land degradation and sustainable land
management
 Lack of awareness about the significance of sustainable
land management and land degradation mitigation
 Lack of improved regulation and guidelines related to land
use
 Weakness of land use coordinating structure
 Lack of capacity for scientific research and technical
services
– absence of database regarding to land degradations
– Lack of research on land degradation
– Poor technical service skills for land degradation mitigation
 Lack of financial resources to input to land
degradation mitigation activities
 Recently, climate variation is more severe for
mitigating DLDD
More risk of floods due to most of the country area
(80%)- mountanous
Increase the resilience of land to climate change,
climate adaptation, needs enormous input
Conclusion
Deforestation and forest degradation, according to land
degradation are most important environmental issue in DPR
Korea
2. Policy willingness of the government and international
cooperation create important opportunities for land
degradation mitigation
3. Aligned NAP should include measures and approaches to
successful mitigate land degradation through social
participation, responding to climate change
4. To replicate and extend best practices and experiences and
to build institutional capacity are priorities, which should be
combined with food security and livelihood improvement
1.
Thank you for attention!