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North Korea's Decade-Long Reforestation Drive: Real Gains, Verified Shortfall

North Korea · Pyongyang · See the North Korea profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 59% 40/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Satellite analysis found North Korea added 1.22M ha of forest in 2015-2024 — 73% of target — reversing prior decline, even as peer-reviewed fieldwork documents afforestation failures in mountainous provinces.

5.52M ha -> 6.1M ha
Forest area (2015-2024)
~1.22 million ha
Forest area gained (2015-2024)
72.7%
Share of government target achieved
-0.8%/year
Annual forest-cover change before 2015
+1.1%/year
Annual forest-cover change since 2015
~58,000 ha below 2001 level
Shortfall vs. 2001 forest cover (2024)
North Korea's Decade-Long Reforestation Drive: Real Gains, Verified Shortfall

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
DPRK Ministry of Land and Environment Protection
Period
2015-2024
Keywords
forestry, land restoration, climate mitigation

Context

North Korea's government has run a national reforestation campaign since the mid-2010s, aiming to reverse decades of deforestation driven by fuelwood collection and agricultural clearing.

Activities

Because the country publishes little independently verifiable data, the clearest evidence comes from a NASA satellite dataset analysed via Daily NK and Anadolu Agency.

Results

National forest area grew from 5.52 million hectares in 2015 to 6.1 million hectares in 2024 — about 1.22 million hectares, or 72.7% of the government's stated target — reversing a prior decline of roughly 0.8% per year to growth of about 1.1% per year.

Conclusions

2024 forest cover remained roughly 58,000 hectares below the 2001 level, and a peer-reviewed 2022 study documents outright afforestation failure in the mountainous northern provinces of Jagang and Ryanggang, linked to a persistent poverty-hunger-deforestation cycle.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M) — State-run nationwide campaign; costs not independently verifiable given limited data transparency.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Campaign running since the mid-2010s; satellite analysis covers 2015-2024.
Staffing & skills
DPRK Ministry of Land and Environment Protection, local communities directed to plant and maintain trees

Conditions for success

  • sustained multi-year (decade-plus) campaign commitment

Common failure modes

  • persistent poverty-hunger-deforestation cycle documented in the mountainous Jagang and Ryanggang provinces
  • 2024 forest cover still ~58,000 ha below the 2001 level

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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