Abstract
The action research project reported in this article used a participatory approach to select trees for sloping-land agroforestry as a key strategy for forest ecosystem restoration and local livelihood development. It was the first such project in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) to use a participatory approach, empowering local user groups to develop their preferences for agroforestry species. Local knowledge of the multiple functions of agroforestry species ensured that the tree selection criteria included the value of timber, fruit, fodder, oil, medicines, fuelwood, and erosion control. Involving 67 farmers from 3 counties, this participatory selection process resulted in Prunus armeniaca, Castanea crenata, and Ziziphus jujuba being selected as the top 3 species for the development of sloping-land agroforestry in North Hwanghae Province. These trees embody what the region’s farmers value most: erosion control, production of fruit, and economic value. The participatory approach in agroforestry could help to meet both local needs for food security and the national objective of environmental conservation and has great potential for wide adaptation in North Korea and beyond.
Highlights
Since the mid-1990s, natural disasters and economic difficulties have plunged the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) into a state of prolonged food insecurity (Noland 2004)
Agroforestry tree species for ecosystem restoration and livelihood development should be chosen based on their ability to perform under site-specific biophysical conditions
We clearly show how the participatory approach enabled the local communities to select multipurpose species, in contradiction to government-dominated tree species selection, which only focuses on timber and fast growing species
Summary
Since the mid-1990s, natural disasters and economic difficulties have plunged the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) into a state of prolonged food insecurity (Noland 2004). Food and energy shortages have forced people to cut trees on sloping land, which has led to serious deforestation and environmental degradation, which in turn caused soil erosion and a loss of biodiversity and livelihood options (Pang et al 2013; Kang and Choi 2014) (Figure 1). To address this problem, the North Korean government established a new policy in 2000 to stimulate reforestation and promote agroforestry to meet both environmental protection and food security needs.
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