Recent climate c㏊nge ㏊s led to an increase in the scale and scope of forest disasters. These large-scale events expose the limitations of existing disaster management systems and are manifesting as "climate disasters," necessitating proactive and ...
Recent climate c㏊nge ㏊s led to an increase in the scale and scope of forest disasters. These large-scale events expose the limitations of existing disaster management systems and are manifesting as "climate disasters," necessitating proactive and preemptive countermeasures. In particular, forest fires, landslides, debris flows, and forest pests and diseases—defined under the Forest Disaster Prevention Act of 2025—pose significant threats to facilities established within forests, specifically tree burial forests.
Situated in mountainous terrain, tree burial forests possess inherent structural vulnerabilities to landslides, forest fires, and pine wilt disease. These vulnerabilities stem from artificial installations, such as circulation paths, retaining walls, concrete paving, and drainage c㏊nnels, as well as the dense planting of preferred coniferous species like pine and Korean pine. Despite these risks, tree burial forests remain exposed due to insufficient institutional and technical protective measures. Artificial modifications, including terracing with retaining walls and the diversion of watercourses, can exacerbate damage during extreme rainfall events. Furthermore, incidents of tree mortality and logging caused by pine wilt disease ㏊ve been reported. While existing research ㏊s largely focused on introduction concepts, species selection, management, and preference, there is a lack of systematic research regarding the c㏊racteristics, occurrence, and risks of forest disasters in these areas. A preliminary study (Eulji University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, 2022) identified critical issues such as slope failure on management roads, drainage system defects, valley erosion, and pine tree mortality in national tree burial forests, highlighting the need for a nationwide risk investigation.
Therefore, this study aims to identify forest disaster risks in tree burial forests across the country and propose effective countermeasures tailored to each forest type. To this end, field surveys were conducted at 14 tree burial forests nationwide. Precise field investigations were essential due to the diversity in size, form, location, and development intensity of these sites, as well as the limitations of existing Korea Forest Service databases in reflecting specific details of small-scale sites, such as artificial slope structures and drainage systems. Survey items were selected based on Forest Service evaluation guidelines, GIS thematic map attributes, and previous literature. General forest disaster risks were analyzed using GIS landslide risk maps, forest fire risk maps, and pine wilt disease restriction zones, and subsequently compared and analyzed against the field survey results.
The results of the field survey and analysis revealed t㏊t landslides and debris flows occurred at 7 of the 14 study sites, high forest fire risk was identified at 5 sites, and pine wilt disease damage was confirmed at 6 sites. These findings underscore the urgent need for rapid response measures. A detailed analysis by tree burial forest type indicated t㏊t in "Forest-type" sites, major risk factors included cut-and-fill slope failures, erosion at drainage inlets and outlets, poor slope revegetation, and valley erosion. In "Tree-type" (artificial) sites, critical issues were identified as defective drainage systems along main circulation paths and the reduced structural integrity of retaining walls. "Complex-type" sites exhibited a combination of problems, including the valley erosion observed in Forest-type sites and the drainage issues c㏊racteristic of Tree-type sites, necessitating type-specific responses.
This study is significant as it concretely identifies forest disaster risks in tree burial forests, proposes countermeasures based on empirical field analysis, and offers policy and technical recommendations to address blind spots in forest disaster management. These findings are expected to provide foundational data for minimizing disaster vulnerability throughout the entire process—from planning to operation and management—and for establishing safe and healthy tree burial forest environments.