Good practice

South Korea Forest Carbon Offset Scheme (FCOS)

South Korea · Daejeon · See the South Korea profile

Korea Forest Service's statutory carbon scheme, linked to the national ETS since 2013, lets forest landowners earn verified credits through six methodologies — forest management, revegetation, avoided conversion — across ~6.3 M ha of Korean forest; 200+ projects registered by 201

Approved methodologies

200+

Projects registered (by 2018)

Details

Maturity: Established
Promoter: Korea Forest Service (KFS)
Period: 2013-present
Keywords: Forest, carbon, temperate, sequestration, K-ETS

Context

The Korea Forest Service's Forest Carbon Offset Scheme, integrated into the national Emissions Trading System (K-ETS) since 2013, lets forest owners generate verified credits through six approved methodologies including forest management, revegetation and avoided conversion.

Implementation

Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.

Data sources

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

C-NAPSE web research — accessed 2026-06-21
Korea Forest Service (KFS) — accessed 2026-06-21
MDPI Forests – Net Revenue of FCOS Projects in the K-ETS (2021) — accessed 2026-06-21
ResearchGate – Perspectives of Private Forest Owners in South Korea FCOS — accessed 2026-06-21

Quality score: 53/100

How is this calculated?

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported

Top 27% in this catalogue (335 scored practices)

Scores cluster high, so position within the catalogue is often more telling than the number alone.

Evaluation

Evaluated by C-NAPSE

Score profile — the dimensions behind the score — how it's computed

Carbon — sequestration / storage, evidenced3/3

Over 200 registered projects since 2013 generate verified credits under six KFS-approved methodologies tradeable as compliance units in the Korea Emissions Trading Scheme.

Biodiversity — conservation / improvement, evidenced1/3

Forest management and revegetation improve native habitat across temperate forests, but biodiversity outcomes are not a measured payment criterion under any FCOS methodology.

Water & soil — retention, infiltration, erosion control1/3

Reforestation and forest management deliver watershed co-benefits across Korea's 63%-forested landscape, but hydrological services are not quantified or rewarded under the scheme.

Fire resilience — risk reduction, evidenced0/3

Wildfire risk reduction is not addressed by any of the six approved FCOS methodologies.

Governance, certification & transferability3/3

Statutory under the Low Carbon Green Growth Act; KFS maintains a public registry; verification follows government-approved methodologies; credits are enforceable units in the K-ETS compliance market.

Cite this

Evidoria. South Korea Forest Carbon Offset Scheme (FCOS). Persistent ID: 7844806b-e61c-4ce9-b003-7390e4b6fd59.

Export as decision brief (PDF)

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