Today, reckless development accelerates habitat fragmentation and degradation, ultimately leading to a rapid decline in global biodiversity. In response, there is a growing call for a paradigm shift away from conservation approaches that exclude human...
Today, reckless development accelerates habitat fragmentation and degradation, ultimately leading to a rapid decline in global biodiversity. In response, there is a growing call for a paradigm shift away from conservation approaches that exclude human presence, toward strategies that emphasis of local communities. Communites play a central role in this shift, as tehy adapt to envrionmental change through the use and management of local resources, and regulate ecosystem balance based on accumulated social norms and ecological knowledge within specific envrionments.
Ecological assets are the elements that make up the ecosystem and have ecological, environmental, and socio-cultural values inherent in specific regions. As ecosystem conservation has shifted to a direction that presupposes the interaction between humans and nature, community practice has become important. Based on the traditional ecological knowledge accumulated in the region, they are adapting through interactions with nature by promoting ecological literacy, an integrated necessary capacity for ecological crisis situations in modern society.
Jeju Island provides a particularly suitable context for the parctical examination of ecological transitions and the sustainable conservation of ecological assets. The ways of life and attitudes toward nature developed by local residents through adaptation to a harsh natural environment embody long-standing experiences of coexistence between humans and nature. However, ensuring the qualitative preservation of jeju’s unique ecological assets requires attention not only to measurable outcomes, but also to the processes of community participation and the directions through which such participation is fostered.
To this end, this study aims to present conservation directions for future sustainability by analyzing the community-based ecological asset preservation process centering on Jeju's three ecotourism villages, Seonheul 1-ri, Harye-ri, and Jeji-ri. In order to analyze the current status of major ecological assets by village, the momentum and activities of community formation to preserve them, and the valuation of related ecological assets, this study applied a qualitative case study method. To do this, we reviewed the importance of changing ecosystem discourse and participating in local communities, reviewed the concepts of human ecology, ecological literacy, traditional ecological knowledge theory, and ecological assets necessary for this change in flow, and identified the case of ecotourism village. In the field, the formation, characteristics, and activities of a community were structured through in-depth interviews, participatory observation, and analysis of local data. The ecosystem value of major ecological assets in the region was evaluated by applying the Rapid Assessment of Wetland Ecosystem Services (RAWES). Through this, the direction of conservation of community-based ecological assets in Jeju Ecotourism Village was suggested.
Examining the ecosystem asset conservation processes across the three villages reveals distict pathways shaped by local ecological conditions and community dynamics. In Seonheul 1-ri, the wetland ecosystem asset of Dongbaekdongsan received institutional protection, which served as a catalyst for the emergence of resident-led conservation activities. The community subsequently evolved into the social cooperative “Seonheulgot,” with its core activities centered on a village-based educational community that facilitates the transmission of ecological knowledge and environmental education. Building on this foundation, continuous habitat management and restoration activities have been carried out.
In Harye-ri, ecosystem conservation has developed around Hyodoncheon, a shared village commons, alongside Gosalli Forest (a riparian woodland) and Geolse Oreum, which together constitute the village’s key ecosystem assets. The community was formed through cooperation between Harye 1-ri and Harye 2-ri, both of which rely on Hyodoncheon as a common resource and jointly organized to protect it. A defining characteristic of this case is the progressive differentiation of self-organized structures, driven by the need for capacity building among activists and internal education. Management and restoration of the three ecosystem assets are primarily expressed through educational and interpretive cultural activities.
In Jeoji-ri, the community emerged to safeguard the ecological value of Gotjawal forests that developed through historical processes of common pasture degradation and land-use change. Key conservation practices include collective preservation through the partial purchase of privately owned land within the Gotjawal and restoration activities focused on the locally endemic species Jeju Daphne (Daphne jejudoensis). These efforts extend beyond the Gotjawal to encompass adjacent Jeoji Oreum, forming an integrated approach to ecosystem asset conservation.
The results of the ecosystem service evaluation of ecological assets by village reveal distinct patterns shaped by conservation regimes and community practices. In Seonheul 1-ri, the assessment of ecosystem services associated with the Dongbaekdongsan ecological asset shows that overall community activities linked to Dongbaekdongsan were evaluated with highly positive cultural service values. The high evaluation of supporting services was likewise confirmed as a result of continuous activities aimed at habitat conservation. Regulating services were positively perceived through various long-standing management practices undertaken by the community, including habitat maintenance and the removal of invasive species. The low evaluation of provisioning services is closely associated with the strict prohibition of resource extraction due to the designation of the area as a wetland protected zone. However, at the level of detailed indicators, efforts to conserve the genetic resources of locally endemic species—such as Jeju bracken ginseng, giant water bugs, and water caltrop—were positively recognized.
In Harye-ri, all three ecological assets—Hyodoncheon Stream, Gosalli Forest, and Geolse Oreum—exhibited highly positive perceptions of cultural services. Supporting services were also evaluated positively, reflecting habitat management activities integrated across the three ecological assets. Among provisioning services, Hyodoncheon received the lowest evaluation, which appears to reflect its strong protected-area characteristics. Regular habitat management and ongoing community activities were further linked to positive perceptions of regulating services across all three ecological assets.
In Jeoji-ri, both Jeoji Gotjawal and the adjacent Oreum were evaluated as having highly positive supporting services, a result reflecting conservation-centered activities focused on habitats of the locally endemic species Jeju Baekseohyang. Cultural services were associated with ecological interpretation and educational programs. Although provisioning services were generally evaluated as low, this pattern—consistent with the other villages—is closely related to the strong conservation-oriented nature of the sites. While many extractive practices within Jeoji Gotjawal have disappeared, the recognition of the value of diverse food provisioning services remains.
Through this, the direction of conservation of community-based ecological assets is summarized as follows. First, in the case of Sunheul, it is necessary to prepare a monitoring system for the continuity of self-organization and a clear diagnosis of ecological assets. In Harye-ri, the necessity of continuing cooperation between the two villages for the linkage between ecological assets and the development of the next stage was raised. In Jeji-ri, the necessity of continuing special species restoration activities and strengthening organizational capacity was shown. The key direction commonly identified in the community-based ecological asset preservation activities of the three villages is the need to strengthen the control and support functions through sustainable habitat management activities.
This study is significant in that it suggested accumulated experiences in the past, community practice in the present, and future conservation directions through the community-based ecological asset preservation process in Jeju Ecotourism Village. It is hoped that this study will contribute in that it reveals the importance of community participation and role in the conservation of ecological assets.