UNESCO - MAB Biosphere Reserves Directory

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			Biosphere Reserve Information
			Dem.People's Rep. of Korea MOUNT PAEKDU


	General Description		Mount Paekdu Biosphere Reserve is situated at the border to the People’s Republic of China and shares the volcano mountain and mountain forest ecosystem with Changbaishan Biosphere Reserve in China. The area was formed by lava eruption one million years ago. The southern half of the volcano comprises a crater lake and associated lava flows and thick ash deposits, which slope gently to the south. Habitats in the area comprise alpine tundra, a transitional alpine meadow-forests zone and a subalpine needle-leafed forest zone. The biosphere reserve covers 132,000 hectares with an altitude ranging from 1,400 to 2,750 meters above sea level. About 35,000 people live within the biosphere reserve (2001). They are engaged in agriculture, management of tourist sites and souvenir shops, cultivation of medicinal plants and wild fruit processing. The biosphere reserve receives about 200,000 tourists per year (2001) who are mostly visiting the Revolutionary Battle sites and climbing up Mount Paekdu. The participation of local communities, local industrial factories and forestry offices in the management and sustainable development of the biosphere reserve is envisaged.
	Major ecosystem type		Temperate and sub-polar broadleaf forests or woodlands
	Major habitats & land cover types		Alpine tundra zone with Papaver coreanum, Oxytropis koreana, Gentiana jamesii, Salix polyadenia etc.; transitional alpine-meadow forest zone characterized by Rhododendron aureum, Dryas octopetala var. asiatica, Phyllodoce caerulea etc.; sub-alpine needleleaf forest with larch (Larix dahurica var. koreana and L. olgensis), spruce (Picea jezoensis) and fir (Abies nephrolepis), Betula ermanii and B. platyphylla; agroecosystems with wheat, barley, potates etc.; logged and managed larch forest; fir, spruce and birch forestry systems
	Location		41°56'N; 128°0'E
	Area (hectares)
	Total		132,000
	Core area(s)		18,600
	Buffer zone(s)		29,700
	Transition area(s) when given		83,700
	Altitude (metres above sea level)		+1,400 to +2,750
	Year designated		1989
	Administrative authorities		Mount Paekdu Nature Reserve and Biosphere Reserve

	Brief description		Soil/vegetation inter-relationships Microclimatology Microbiology Animal populations Forest dynamics Productivity and nutrient circulation in forest ecosystems
	*Specific variables...*
	Abiotic		Climate, nutrients, soil.
	Biodiversity		Biology, fauna, forest systems, population genetics/population dynamics, productivity, vegetation studies/plant cover.
	Socio-economic		n.a.
	Integrated monitoring		n.a.

	Contact address		Ri Wui-Gu MAB National Committee, Vice-President, State Academy of Sciences Kinmaul1-dong, Moranbong District Pyongyang Dem.People's Rep. of Korea
	Telephone		(850.2) 318111 ext. 381 88544
	Fax		(850.2) 381 4410 (850.2) 381 2100
	E-mail		pptayang@co.chesin.com

Last updated: 02/03/2007