• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.95 no.1
• /
• pp.60-72
• /
• 2006

The aim of this paper is to identify and evaluate relations for forest greening and the firewood substitution for home use after 1945 Liberation of Korea. Korea faced serious forest degradation by the early 1960s due to the enormous firewood consumption, which was about ten million cubic meters annually, for home use. If the trend of firewood consumption was maintained until 1955's, the total forest area in Korea could be thoroughly degraded within 10 years. The firewood substitution for home use had to be solved as soon as possible. For this purpose, energy sector by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry carried out the substitution policy for home using the briquettes which was the only natural resources for energy produced in Korea. Firewood was prohibited being carried in the major cities by forestry sector, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, from 1958. Only 5.2% of household in the cities used the forest products consumed as a fuel in 1970 because these inter-sectoral substitution measures of firewood for home use turned out a success gradually. After the 1970s, firewood consumption for home use was naturally decreased due to rural people's explosive move to cities, who were major consumers of firewood for home use at that time. Firewood for cooking was substituted by LPG gas after 1985 and firewood for house heating was substituted by coal and oil after 1980. Finally, on the basis of the firewood substitution for home use, the forest degradation that lasted over one hundred years was put a period.