Seoul city to help plant forest in Mongolian capital

SEOUL, June 28 (Yonhap) -- The city of Seoul said Sunday it plans to help plant a
forest in Mongolia to stem rapid desertification in the landlocked Asian country.
The city will finance the planting of trees on a 6.5 million square-meter reserve
that Mongolia wants to set aside for a national park.
The area is located in the southern part of Ulan Bator, the capital. Seoul's
municipal government has also pledged to create a "Seoul forest" on 3,000 square
meters of land.
The agreement was reached during Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's recent visit to
Mongolia. Oh arrived in the country on Wednesday and held talks with his
counterpart on Saturday.
Sources said that Seoul had originally wanted to plant a forest outside Ulan
Bator but received a request from local authorities to plant trees within the
city limits.
About 300 million won (US$233,000) has been set aside for the project, which aims
to further enhance already close ties between South Korea and Mongolia, the
sources said.
Estimates say up to 40 percent of Mongolia has become desert due to climate
change and over-grazing, threatening the livelihoods of its people and causing
problems for the region.
To prevent such developments, Mongolia, with outside support, plans to plant a
3,700km long forest by 2035. The forest will be 300 to 600 meters wide and could
help halt the expansion of the desert, its government has said.
Mayor Oh returned earlier in the day after a eight-day trip to New York and the
Mongolian capital.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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