News
Protection of Useful Animals in the DPRK
05
Jul
Jul
| The period from March to July is designated as the period for protecting useful animals in the DPRK. In this connection, staff reporter Ham Kwang Hyok had an interview with Choe Jong Sik, chairman of the Korean Zoology Society. Ham: Protecting and propagating useful animals poses itself as an important undertaking in our country with many mountains, rivers and lakes, I think. Choe: You’re right. Our country abounds in such rare birds as white cranes, storks and white herons with yellow beaks and useful animals including deer, roe deer, water deer and musk deer. It put forward as an important policy to add beauty to nature and improve the people’s material and cultural standards of living by actively protecting and propagating useful animals, and has made vigorous efforts to carry it out. The Law of the DPRK on Game Reserves adopted in November Juche 87 (1998) stipulates the principles to be adhered to in surveying and protecting the species of useful animals and increasing their number. Besides, there are several sectoral laws as regards the protection of scenic spots and natural monuments, environment and nature reserves. Ham: Would you tell me about the undertakings that are conducted in the period for protecting useful animals this year? Choe: All the provinces are promoting the work to protect and increase useful animals in larger numbers in newly-built game reserves. They select hillocks blessed with good living conditions, wonderful landscape and ecological protection as game reserves and conduct their management as an all-people drive. In particular, they provide such favourable living conditions as pools, artificial caves, feed shelves and artificial nests to the likely places for breeding in this period, the breeding season for all animals. Meanwhile, they are tightening supervision and control to combat the killing of wild animals by means of explosives, poisons, traps and nooses, and the destruction of habitats. At the same time, they are taking measures to protect and increase the number of useful animals such as endemic and precious natural animals. This year alone, they released many pheasants and roe deer in the game reserves. Ham: It is important to create forests in the game reserves for protection of animals, I think. Choe: Such tall trees as pines, chestnuts and oaks and shrubs with thick branches and foliage, including hazels, Sobina sargentii and Spiraea, are planted in the game and nature reserves to provide habitats and covering conditions for animals. By so doing, efforts are directed to providing such animals as goshawk, sables and black woodpeckers that live in forests with conditions for breeding. Meanwhile, measures are taken to prevent damage from forest fires in the reserves. |
2020-07-04
