Today South Korea became the 7^th donor to join the Central African Forest Initiative by signing the CAFI Joint Declaration, during a high level ceremony held in Daejon and attended by the Minister of Korea Forest Service Dr SHIN Won-Sop, Norway's Ambassador to Korea Jan Ole Grevstad, and UNDP's Seoul Policy Centre.   

Jan Ole Grevstad highlighted CAFI’s “inspiring progress” and welcomed South Korea to the CAFI partnership.  “From 1960 to 1990 South Korea’s forest cover increased from 40% to 63% of its national territory. You are the world champion in terms of land restauration and afforestation”, he emphasized.

Once a place where not a single plant grew with massive landslide, flooding, and erosion leading to a loss of arable land and continuous poverty, South Korea undertook an ambitious reforestation strategy that led to significant increase in forest area and public benefits valued at over US$ 125 billion.

Today South Korea joined Norway, France, the EU, the UK, Germany and the Netherlands as part of the coalition of countries or organisations willing to ensure better coordination and harmonization among themselves and to mobilize resources for the implementation of national investment frameworks developed by Central African countries.

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