A TRANSFRONTIER RESERVE FOR PEACE AND NATURE ON THE KOREAN PENINSULA

The Korean War of 1950-1953 left the Korean peninsular divided into th e Democratic People's Republic of [North] Korea and the Republic of [S outh] Korea. That war is still technically in progress, and the 246-ki lometer Military Demarcation Line separating the two states, as establ ished by the 1953 Military Armistice Agreement, is surrounded by a dem ilitarized zone (DMZ) 4 kilometers in width (with 2 kilometers on eith er side of the line), and thus with an area of 98,400 hectares. Both K oreas are formally committed to consummating a peace treaty, as well a t to ultimate peaceful reunification, and negotiations of a desultory nature toward those ends have been occurring on and off for several de cades now. The DMZ had been left relatively undisturbed since the end to the are. To the south of the DMZ there is an additional civilian co ntrol zone of varying width, averaging 5.4 kilometers, that has also r emained relatively undeveloped and only modestly disturbed. and a simi lar control zone is said to exist to the north. At present, South Kore a as a whole has about 7 percent of its national area under nature pro tection, and North Korea only about 0.5 percent. The DMZ is now a flou rishing de fact nature reserve, but this status could disappear rapidl y following reunification owing to the enormous social pressures, both north and south, for agricultural, industrial, and urban development. It is thus urgently suggested that North-South negotiations be initia ted at this time to establish, as soon as possible, a Korean Bi-state Reserve for Peace and Nature. Then the two states could begin to deal cooperatively with the precious common natural heritage of that ecogeo graphical region. Such an endeavor would serve not only to contribute to the very necessary expansion of areas devoted to biodiversity prote ction on the peninsula (with a biota that includes a number of species threatened with extinction), but would at the same time facilitate th e peace process and ultimate reunification. Specifically, what is bein g suggested is the establishment of two distinct transfrontier zones, one a low wetland near the western end of the Demarcation Line and the other a mountainous upland near the eastern end, each at least 50,000 hectares in size, the extend beyond the DMZ itself and into the two e xisting civilian control zones (thereby leaving up to approximately 75 percent of the combined DMZ and civilian control zones for developmen t). South Korea has been highly supportive of turning the DMZ into a z one for peace and ecological integrity since at least 1991, and in Jun e 1997 once again called upon North Korea to cooperate in this endeavo r. North Korea, after indicating its interest in 1991, has been essent ially silent on the matter despite various offers of technical and adm inistrative assistance from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the U N Development Programme (UNDP), and two nongovernmental organizations (the International Crane Foundation and the Korea Peace Bioreserves Sy stem Project). However, with renewed negotiations begun in late 1997 t o finally conclude a peace treaty, the time has come to vigorously pur sue the notion of a DMZ-based transfrontier reserve for peace and natu re.