Case Example: South Korea

South Korea successfully increased its forest cover from approximately 3.5 million hectares in the mid-1950s to 6.4 million hectares by 2007, primarily through active restoration. This recovery was driven by strong government leadership, national awareness campaigns, and a series of multi-year Forest Development Plans. While the restoration provided significant ecosystem services valued at over US$92 billion as of 2013, the study notes caveats including a historical reliance on authoritarian labor practices, low species diversity due to a focus on coniferous trees, and a high dependence on imported wood, including illegally sourced timber.

• South Korea experienced significant forest recovery between the mid-1950s and 2007, with forest cover increasing from approximately 3.5 million hectares to 6.4 million hectares, representing a gain of nearly 3 million hectares and an increase in land area coverage from 35 percent to 64 percent.
• The economic value of ecosystem services provided by restored forests was estimated at more than US$92 billion as of 2013, which is roughly 9 percent of the national GDP. The highest value contributions came from water benefits (US$22.7 billion) and carbon sequestration and air purification (US$18.7 billion).
• Restoration was facilitated by a series of five 'Forest Development Plans for Rehabilitation and Restoration' starting in 1973. These plans evolved from prioritizing erosion control (1973–78) and commercial timber (1979–87) to public benefits (1988–97), sustainable management (1998–2007), and green growth and climate change adaptation (2008–17).
• The government used aggressive public awareness campaigns to frame reforestation as a patriotic duty. This included the declaration of a national Arbor Day on April 5 and the use of slogans such as "Planting is loving the nation" and "Cutting trees is a menace and planting trees is an act of patriotism".
• Market shifts significantly enabled restoration; the use of wood for energy dropped from 90 percent of national energy use in 1950 to just 5 percent by 1980. Additionally, rural population decline from 16 million in 1950 to 3 million by 2000 reduced land pressure.
• The rapid restoration process had negative institutional and ecological side effects. Between 1953 and 1988, authoritarian governance enabled forced unpaid labor via the Temporary Act of Forest Reclamation (1963). Ecologically, the focus on coniferous trees created a lack of species diversity and age structure, increasing susceptibility to pests and diseases.
• Despite its reforestation success, South Korea remains heavily dependent on imports for 84 percent of its wood needs and is identified as the world's fifth largest consumer of illegally sourced wood.

APA

BUCKINGHAM, K., & HANSON, C. (n.d.). Case Example: South Korea. World Resources Institute. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/WRI_Restoration_Diagnostic_Case_Example_SouthKorea.pdf

Chicago

BUCKINGHAM, KATHLEEN, and CRAIG HANSON. Case Example: South Korea. World Resources Institute, n.d. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/WRI_Restoration_Diagnostic_Case_Example_SouthKorea.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=BUCKINGHAM |first1=KATHLEEN |last2=HANSON |first2=CRAIG |title=Case Example: South Korea |publisher=World Resources Institute |url=https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/WRI_Restoration_Diagnostic_Case_Example_SouthKorea.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{buckinghamndcase, author = {BUCKINGHAM, KATHLEEN and HANSON, CRAIG}, title = {{Case Example: South Korea}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/WRI_Restoration_Diagnostic_Case_Example_SouthKorea.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }