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The Ministry of Environment carries out a five-day ecological, forestry and cultural survey in the western part of the Demilitarized Zone starting Monday. The 20 members of the expert team come from government and private organizations such as the Korea Forest Service, the Cultural Heritage Administration, and Seoul National University. The survey is an opportunity to examine the ecosystem in the DMZ, which had been left undisturbed for more than 50 years, in detail, the ministry said Sunday.
Such surveys will continue until 2010, covering the whole 907 sq. km between the Military Demarcation Line and the Southern Limit Line. The sea is excluded from the survey. This year, the survey will be limited to the western part of the DMZ in Paju-si and Yeoncheon-gun in Gyeonggi Province, focusing on topography, landscape and animal and plant habitats.
Research on the ecosystem in the DMZ so far has essentially been limited to bird watching. This is the first time experts are actually going into the DMZ to observe the ecosystem closely.
The team will collect fish with cast or stake net in the streams and reservoirs, and observe the footprints of mammals and other animals.
The Environment Ministry tried to conduct survey in of the ecosystem in the DMZ in 2006, but the plan was thwarted because UN Command and other military authorities said they could not guarantee safety of researchers.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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