Analyzing the occurrence trend of sediment-related disasters and post-disaster recovery cases in mountain regions in North Korea based on a literature review and satellite image observations

This study investigated spatiotemporal trends of sediment-related disasters in North Korea from 1960 to 2019 and post-disaster recovery cases based on a literature review and satellite images. Results showed that occurrence status of sediment-related disasters was initially externally reported in 1995 (during the Kim Jongil era); their main triggering factor was heavy summer rainfall. Furthermore, forest degradation rate was positively correlated with population density (<i>R<sup>2</sup></i> = 0.4347, <i>p</i> = 0.02) and occurrence number of sediment-related disasters was relatively high on the west coast region, where both variables showed high values. This indicates that human activity was a major cause of forest degradation and thus, significantly affected sediment-related disasters in mountain regions. Finally, sediment- related disasters due to shallow landslides, debris flow, and slow-moving landslides were observed in undisturbed forest regions and human-impacted forest regions, including terraced fields, opencast mines, forest roads, and post-wildfire areas, via satellite image analysis. These disaster-hit areas remained mostly abandoned without any recovery works, whereas hillside erosion control work (e.g., treeplanting with terracing) or torrent erosion control work (e.g., check dam, debris flow guide bank) were implemented in certain areas. These findings can provide reference information to expand inter-Korean exchange and cooperation in forest rehabilitation and erosion control works of North Korea. Keywords: Climate change, Deforestation and forest degradation, Sustainable forest management, Monitoring and data collection, Research ID: 3616353

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kim, K., Kang, M., Kim, S. W.
Format: Document biblioteca
Language:English
Published: FAO ; 2022
Online Access:https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cc4412en
http://www.fao.org/3/cc4412en/cc4412en.pdf
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