The Korea Forest Service, shifting the paradigm for pine wood nematode disease control...establishing a national control belt.

(Daejeon=Yonhap News) Reporter Yoo Ui-joo = The Korea Forest Service announced on the 5th that it has established a national control strategy to protect forests from pine wood nematodes and restore the function of forest resources, reflecting new control measures. The newly established national control strategy for pine wood nematode disease is composed of four main contents that will be prioritized from this year to 2030. First, region-specific control measures will be introduced by establishing a national control belt to intensively manage it. Strengthened defense lines will be built in the forefront areas and pine forests that need to be preserved to prevent the spread of damage, and support will be expanded to convert areas with minor damage into clean areas. In the long term, the establishment of control strategies by the national and local governments will be mandatory, considering regional characteristics and on-site conditions, and collaborative governance will be established with stakeholders such as forest owners, foresters, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to participate in the formulation and implementation of control strategies and to form a policy consensus. The use of damaged dead trees will be increased by making the cost of nematode disease control realistic and easing movement restrictions, and control measures through species conversion will be expanded considering climate change and forest owners' income to create a new forest safe from pine wood nematode disease. To intensively manage problem sites, a public participation monitoring system will be established, and efforts will be made to build an automatic inspection and analysis system using artificial intelligence (AI), develop nematode-resistant varieties, and develop eco-friendly control agents. Deputy Director Park Eun-sik of the Korea Forest Service said, "Pine wood nematode disease is a national forest disaster like forest fires and landslides, and we must respond with all our might," and "We will do our best to implement the national control strategy established this time to preserve precious pine forests from pine wood nematode disease."