Korea’s Protected Areas Evaluating the effectiveness of South Korea’s protected areas system Seoraksan National Park This report summarises the findings of a detailed evaluation of the protected area system of South Korea, produced on behalf of IUCN, the Korean National Parks Service (KNPS), the Korean Ministry of Environment (MOE) and the Jeju Island Special Self Governing Province. The research has been undertaken by the Management Effectiveness Assessment team from KNPS and an external team of assessors. The following have been involved in the research and preparation of the report: PROJECT Manager: Mr. Won Woo Shin: Executive Director of Nature Conservation, KNPS Former Director General in Nature Conservation Bureau in Ministry of Environment Former Director General in Yeongsan River Basin Environmental Office Responsibilities: Overall responsibility for appropriate management of the funds and achievement of the planned outputs in a timely fashion and to the highest level of quality. Promote and facilitate the interaction of relevant parties with the collaborative work. Supervise and monitor the technical progress of each project component and make adjustment as needed. Collect and disseminate information on the project progress to each party and ensure all the relevant funds shown on the work plan are available in time. Take responsibility for the project outcome. KNPS MEE Technical Team Project Advisor: Prof. Heuk-jin Chung: Chungju National University Responsibilities: Assist the project manager and provide advice in the design, planning, management, implementation, monitoring and supervision of project activities. Assure effective communication among MEE technical team, IUCN and other relevant experts. Members from KNPS: Dr. Hag Young Heo : Senior Researcher Ms. Soyoung Park Mr. Sungwoo Yang Responsibilities: Develop site-level evaluation tool with assistance from IUCN. Consult with and involve agency staff in process and manage the stakeholder engagement process. Provide training of participants in MEE process. Conduct the site-level MEE and analyze the results. Facilitate and contribute to External Review Team mission. Prepare final MEE report in conjunction with IUCN. Participate in the presentation of the results in appropriate meetings nationally and internationally. Arrange translation, publication and distribution of project deliverables. Internal Review Team Members: Prof. Do Soon Cho: Catholic University Mr. Yong Seok Shin: Superintendent of Seoraksan National Park, KNPS Prof. Dong Geun Lee: Seoul National University Mr. Gwang Hyeon Cho: WesleyQuest Specialist Prof. Tong Mahn Ahn: Seoul National University External Evaluation Team External team members were chosen to provide a wide range of expertise and to cover different aspects of the assessment; areas of specialisation were selected at the start of the trip and although each team member considered every aspect of the mission individuals took particular responsibility for different aspects and for producing site reports. Team leader Associate Professor Marc Hockings, University of Queensland: lead author of the WCPA framework on assessment of protected area management effectiveness and WCPA vice-chair for science; original chair of the task force that established protected area management effectiveness as a key issue within WCPA, has been involved in developing and implementing many protected area assessment systems at different scales and is coordinating a global study of protected area management effectiveness. Team members Mr. Nigel Dudley of Equilibrium Research: co-author of the WCPA framework and of several assessment methodologies; a team member of the first national assessment in Finland. Mr. Hyun Kim of KNPS and IUCN: specialist in Korea s national park system and acted as liaison between IUCN and KNPS in establishing the assessment. Mr. Peter Shadie: Head of the IUCN Asian protected area programme and former staff of New South Wales National Parks Service (Australia); long practical experience in protected area management in Australia, globally and in Asia. Dr. Rauno V is nen: Director of Natural Heritage Services in Finland, the state protected area agency, and initiator of the first national assessment process. Mr. Geoff Vincent: of G W Vincent and Associates, former Deputy Chief Executive of Parks Victoria (Australia) and involved there in a major state-wide assessment, long practical experience in protected area management. Contents Preface Chapter 1; Summary, conclusions and key 7 recommendations Chapter 2; Background and context 13 Chapter 3; Introduction to assessment method 23 Chapter 4; Thematic analysis of the Korean 29 protected area system Thematic Area 1; The Protected area system 31 Thematic Area 2; Natural resource management 37 Thematic Area 3; Visitor services and visitor management 43 Thematic Area 4; Cultural heritage management 50 Thematic Area 5; Governance and business management 53 Thematic Area 6; Staff structure and organisation 61 Thematic Area 7; Stakeholders and communities 65 Thematic Area 8; Monitoring, research and assessment 71 Thematic Area 9; International presence 74 Chapter 5; Korean site data / Field mission report 77 Chapter 6; Global comparison 105 Appendices 109 System level assessment pro-forma completed 110 Site-level assessment proforma 123 Mission programme and list of people interviewed 146 Glossary: CBD Convention on Biological Diversity CEESP Commission on Environmental, Social and Economic Policy CEM Commission on Ecosystem Management CHA Cultural Heritage Administration DMZ Demilitarised Zone IUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature KNPS Korea National Park Service Korea Refers here to Republic of Korea, also known as South Korea MLTMA Ministry Land Transport and Maritime Affairs MOE Ministry of Environment UNEP-WCMC UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre WCPA World Commission on Protected Areas Preface As of 1960s, Korea has established the modern protected area system, designated and managed various types of 1,300 protected areas including national parks, ecosystem & landscape conservation areas, wetland protected areas, nature reserves, forest genetic resources reserves, Baekdudaegan protected areas, marine environment conservation areas and marine protected areas. The ecosystem and its biodiversity in protected areas are protected by the relevant laws and national plans. As a current member of the diverse international conventions such as CBD, UNFCCC, RAMSAR and CITES, Korea is actively engaged in the international collaboration in the field of the natural environment and improved the international capacities. As a result, RAMSAR COP10 was successfully held in 2008 in Korea. Based on the agreement at World Summit Sustainable Development, Korea established and implemented the first national strategy for sustainable development 2006-2010. Korea also set up a green growth as a national policy and made strenuous efforts for a natural environment protection and sustainable development. The objectives of this project are to implement Program of Work on Protected Area (PoW PA) which was adopted in CBD COP 7 in 2004, check the current management status little over half a century after the introduction of the modern protected area system, build the relevant information and improve the capacity building of the staff for the better management of protected areas. Covering 39 sites including national parks under Ministry of Environment (MOE) jurisdiction, this project was initiated with a number of preparatory works for many years since the first discussion in 2005 and the participation of the domestic & international experts. This report includes the information on the current protected areas status and its findings as well as the possible responses recommended by the internal and external experts. Through the systematic implementation of the possible responses after the close review, it is expected that Korea protected areas system can become the world best class and the management can be effectively improved. I would like to thank Dr. Marc Hockings of IUCN-WCPA, Mr. Nigel Dudley, protected area expert, Dr.Rauno V is nen of Finland Metsahallitus who gave us technical comments on the park management, Mr. Geoff Vincent, the former deputy executive of Parks Victoria in Australia, Mr.Peter Shadie of IUCN ARO who coordinated for collaboration works between KNPS and IUCN. In particular, I want to thank all the staff of MOE & Korea National Park Service (KNPS), stakeholders and local residents who participated in the interviews. Wonwoo Shin Executive Director of Resource Conservation in KNPS Preface In 2004 the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted a Programme of Work on Protected Areas that set ambitious goals for countries to advance the establishment and management of their protected area systems. This Programme, amongst other things, called on countries to develop systems for assessing the effectiveness of management of their protected areas and to implement assessments in at least 30% of their protected areas by 2010. With 2010 nearly upon us, the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, in conjunction with the University of Queensland, the UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre and the 2010 Biodiversity Indicator Partnership have been undertaking a global review of management effectiveness studies. This work has identified assessments of more than 7000 protected areas in over 100 countries — a remarkable effort that provides a better understanding of the state of the world