South Korea won the bid to host the 15th World Forestry Congress to be held in 2021, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Korea Forest Service said Wednesday.

This will be the first time in over 40 years for the congress to take place in the Asia-Pacific region in 1978.

The WFC aims to share knowledge and experience, and discuss social, economic and institutional issues in the forestry sector. It is held every six years under the auspices of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

The council member countries reached the consensus on Monday, the South Korean government officials said.

It will be Korea’s first opportunity to host one of the largest conferences in the field of forestry and environment. Korea has organized UN Rio Conventions and the 12th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

Since submitting the proposal to host the congress to the FAO Secretariat in April, Korea has traveled to the council member countries to vouch for its competitiveness to host the congress, including at the FAO Committee on Forestry in July.

Korea has been competing with Italy for the bid, and Korea was endorsed as Italy withdrew its bid before the secret ballot

It is considered that the successful reforestation story of Korea, which successfully turned bare mountains into lush green, played a vital role in this success, government officials explained.

They added that the win is also attributed to well-coordinated measures by the related government organizations including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Korea will share use this occasion to promote its successful forest restoration experience and develop a sustainable vision for the future by strengthening international cooperation in forestry, the officials said. 

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)