A study on forestry successors in korea focused on forestry successors in Gueonggi Province

In Korea, 64%, or approximately 6.4 million ha, of the land is covered with mountains and forests. However, most owners of mountains and forests are not interested in investing in their mountains or forests, for it would be a long-term investment yielding relatively small profits. They are, furthermore, completely unconcerned with forest management. Under these circumstances, the government is beginning to put efforts into continuously cultivating devoted forest managers, forestry successors, and new knowledge foresters in order to activate the management of these private forests. As a result, the number of forestry successors increased from 1,554 in 2005 to 1,829 in 2007. However, most of them did not consider themselves as the leaders of forest management, as the income levels from forest-related businesses was low, and they also had relatively low ambitions when it came to the management of forest resources. While many respondents agreed that they could hardly meet the requirements for receiving state loans or financial support, many other forestry successors wanted to take the loan or wished that the scope of the loan scheme was extended to other areas, so that they could expand the value of their properties by managing accommodation facilities and purchasing forests for business purposes, such as recreation forests and pensions. Therefore, it is necessary to relieve restrictions to the greatest degree possible, and expand and intensify the support for those forestry successors who are actually fully engaged in forest management.