Yuhan-Kimberly is creating a forest of endangered trees in partnership with the Baekdudaegan National Arboretum.
The company said on the 16th that it held a ceremony to establish and plant an off-site conservation garden for Korean fir at the arboretum in Bonghwa, North Gyeongsang Province, on the 15th.
The event marked the first planting under a Korean fir conservation project the two organizations have pursued since 2021. It carries added significance because years of groundwork — collecting and preserving Korean fir seeds and raising seedlings — has now led to an actual forest.
The Korean fir, a species native to South Korea, is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as its natural habitats decline rapidly because of climate change. According to research by the World Heritage Office of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, the Korean fir forest on Mount Halla shrank 48.1% over roughly a century, from 1,168.4 hectares in 1918 to 606 hectares in 2021.
As a result, off-site conservation — preserving Korean firs in suitable environments outside their natural habitats and laying the groundwork for recovering their numbers — is becoming increasingly important as the species declines under the climate crisis.
About 30 people, including Yuhan-Kimberly employees and arboretum officials, attended the ceremony and planted 500 ten-year-old Korean fir saplings from Mount Halla. Participants planted the saplings themselves, putting into practice a commitment to conserving biodiversity and addressing the climate crisis for future generations.
The off-site conservation garden will preserve Korean firs, which are declining because of climate change, in a safe environment outside their natural habitat and establish a foundation for stable growth and population recovery. The two organizations plan to continue monitoring the trees' condition after planting and to manage the site systematically to strengthen its function as a Korean fir conservation garden.
Lee Kyu-myung, head of the Baekdudaegan National Arboretum, said, "This event is the site of the first step for an off-site conservation garden that will safely protect the Korean fir, which is disappearing because of climate change," adding, "We will continue to manage the planting site systematically to build a foundation for recovering Korean fir numbers."
Jeon Yang-sook, head of Yuhan-Kimberly's Sustainability Management Center, said, "Starting with this event, we will maintain close cooperation with the Baekdudaegan National Arboretum so that we can help protect the endangered Korean fir and build a healthy domestic forest ecosystem."