SECURING SEEDS AMID CLIMATE CHANGE

[Anchor Lead]

With climate change gaining speed in recent years, countries around the world are scrambling to secure seeds. Korea has also launched efforts to secure the seeds of coniferous trees, which are believed to be on the brink of extinction because of rapid climate change.

[Pkg]

The Baekdudaegan mountain range is a repository of Korea's flora and fauna. As you climb the slopes. a large number of barren trees come into view. Even trees that are still alive have dying, yellow leaves. These are Khingan fir trees, one of the representative conifer tree species in Korea. The situation gets worse inside the forest. This is what experts call "climate stress," which causes flora to slowly die from dehydration due to the lack of moisture in the area. Seven kinds of conifers growing in highland areas such as the Khingan fir and the Korean fir have been designated as endangered species, and will be subject to intensive conservation. The main culprit of their habitat destruction is climate change.

[Soundbite] Seo Jae-Cheol(Green Korea United) : "The median annual temperature used to stay at 10 degrees. But that balance has been broken."

Cones are being collected in this forest. They are cut using a special equipment while the name of the species and location are recorded in detail. The collected cones must be sorted under strict criteria before they are moved to the seed bank. That's because they must be able to sprout at any time after being stored for a long time at negative 20 degrees and in relative humidity of 40 percent. So far, the seeds of some two thousand wild plant species have been secured in Korea. The primary goal is to restore the seeds of plants on the verge of extinction and find new habitats for them.

[Soundbite] Yang Jong-cheol(Beakdudaegan Nat'l Arboretum) : "We can preserve seeds when needed only after developing ways to manage and cultivate them."

Countries around the world are scrambling to secure seeds in the face of climate change. Korea should increase investment in seed preservation and research to survive in the seed war.