An integrated ecosystem service-based approach for the sustainable management of forested islands in South Korea

Abstract

Implementing sustainable island forest management policies requires categorizing the islands into groups based on key indicators and establishing a consistent management system. This study proposes a novel framework to support an ecosystem service-based approach to managing forested islands in South Korea. First, a typology of six forested island categories is established based on varying extents of natural vegetation cover (as a percentage of forest cover) and connectivity to the mainland. An analytic hierarchy process (AHP) analysis was conducted with island forest experts to identify priority ecosystem services (ESs) for the sustainable management of each island type. On connected islands, provisioning services (natural resources and natural medicines) are more important than regulatory (erosion control) or supporting services (genetic diversity). On unconnected islands, particularly those with a small proportion of natural vegetation, regulatory services (erosion control) require a greater emphasis on management. Since Type 3 islands require urgent management as connectivity to the mainland makes natural vegetation=sparse island forest ecosystems vulnerable to anthropogenic activities, the land-use scoring method was performed on Jin-do. Comparisons between the AHP-derived expert demand for key island ESs and the spatial distribution of ES supply potential revealed mismatches between supply and demand for erosion control, freshwater supply and habitat provision. The framework developed in this study can help guide policy and decision-making processes and indicate where interventions should be focused to achieve sustainable island management.