‘A Symbol of Hope’: How the Korean Demilitarized Zone Turned Into a Wildlife Sanctuary

The border between North and South Korea is a symbol of militarization and political tensions. It is also an area where the absence of human activity allowed nature and wildlife to flourish. “The demilitarized zone is a symbol of hope. It shows everything can be restored,” Seung-ho Kim, Director of the DMZ Ecology Research Institute, told Earth.Org. 

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The demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a buffer zone created at the end of the Korean War in 1953. It covers everything 2 kilometers north and south of the border between North and South Korea, running 241 kilometres from east to west across the Korean Peninsula. Human access to the DMZ is heavily restricted, as it is one of the most fortified and militarized borders in the world. 

A Safe Haven for Wildlife

These 70 years of human absence have made the DMZ and its border areas a sanctuary for wildlife and plants, and one of the most biodiverse areas in South Korea. From wide wetlands to mountains covered with forests, its diverse landscape is home to nearly 6,200 wildlife species, according to the National Institute of Ecology. 38% of South Korea’s 267 endangered species, such as the Siberian musk deer, the leopard cat, the Asiatic black bear and the Korean goral, live there. 

Seven of the 15 crane species in the world can be found within the DMZ, among them the endangered white-naped and the red-crowned crane. According to the DMZ Ecology Research Institute, while wetlands in China and Japan are disappearing, the DMZ offers a peaceful sanctuary for these migratory birds. 

Conservation and Preservation Efforts

Even though access is heavily restricted, several Korean organizations are involved in the conservation and preservation of the DMZ and its inhabitants. “For the past 30 years, Green Korea United has conducted extensive on-the-ground surveys across the Civilian Control Zone and border areas to monitor the habitats of endangered wildlife,” said Dasom Lee, Director of the Ecosystem Conservation Team of Green Korea United (GKU). 

The accumulated data from their surveys helped GKU successfully advocate for the designation of 70,000 hectares of land in the DMZ buffer zones as protected areas. “The preservation of the Civilian Control Zone south of the DMZ over the past 70 years is the result of both legal environmental protection and the restriction of human access due to military constraints,” Lee told Earth.Org. 

Access to the DMZ is highly restricted and tightly controlled, but pictures taken by unmanned eco cameras installed by the National Institute of Ecology offer a glimpse of the wildlife in the area. Field research can only be done in the Civilian Control Zone (CCZ), a buffer area south of the DMZ. While public access is also heavily restricted here, a limited number of people are allowed to enter, and even farm, within the CCZ area. The agricultural land is mainly used to grow rice.  

Field Research

Every week, Seung-ho Kim, Director of the DMZ Ecology Research Institute and volunteers from the institute enter the CCZ to conduct field research. “Interestingly, the small waterways of the rice paddies are home to the most endangered species. The paddies are very different from the rice fields outside the CCZ; they contain more weeds and are very traditional,” said Kim, who started the research centre in 2004 to preserve and protect the area through research and educational activities.

He and his team also hope their observations can help improve biodiversity outside of the restricted areas. His goal is to create standards and protocols that are relatively easy to implement.

“We are testing microhabitats which can function as corridors to bring more wildlife. For example, the weeds in rice paddies could function as a corridor for deer, leopard cats or birds. This year, we are also testing rock piles to see how they function as a microhabitat for small mammals such as mice, reptiles, and snakes,” he explained.

Eco-Tourism

The uniqueness of the CCZ, its ecological value and the wildlife it inhabits have led to the development of small-scale eco-tourism activities over the past years. The presence of rare migratory birds has, for example, led to the development of bird-watching tours in the area. And the South Korean government developed the DMZ Peace Trail to help restore tourism in the border regions and to boost the local economy. 

Those who want to walk one of the 11 routes need to go through an identification verification process and can enter the area in small groups guided by local tour guides. To protect the environment, only small parts of the route can be walked; the rest can be visited by bus.

Lee sees a positive side to bringing small-scale eco-tourism activities into the area: “Even for Koreans, the DMZ remains a place of mystery, and it is a positive development for the public to learn about its ecological significance – such as being a vital sanctuary for the globally endangered red-crowned crane.” 

Paradox

But Lee is worried that improved political relations could lead to increased development pressure on the area: “We face a geopolitical paradox: when inter-Korean relations improve, ‘development pressure’ intensifies. Our greatest difficulty is the political reality where environmental conservation is rarely treated as a top-tier priority, regardless of the situation.”

GKU closely monitors plans developed for the CCZ and DMZ area. “We serve as a watchdog, strictly monitoring large-scale civil engineering projects that frequently resurface during election cycles or periods of eased tensions. Specifically, we demand practical alternatives to address forest degradation and the fragmentation of ecological corridors caused by military facilities,” said Lee.

While he hopes for peace between the two Koreas, Kim also sees how politics could be one of the biggest threats to the unique ecosystems of the DMZ and CCZ. “We want to conserve the area for wildlife, but I am worried politicians will ignore this after unification. In addition to its ecological value, the area should also be protected for its symbolic value. Even if there is a lot of military activity, nature can thrive here. For me, this is a symbol of hope,” she said.

Featured image: DMZ Ecology Research Institute.