Korean Federation of Environmental Movements
The Korean Federation for Environmental Movements (KFEM) is a non-governmental environmental and nature conservation organization based in South Korea . KFEM is the Korean member of the international nature conservation organization Friends of the Earth . The association has its origins in the Korean democracy movement and has played a key role in democratic civil society since it was founded in 1993. With around 80,000 members and around 50 local district and local groups in every province and larger city, KFEM is the largest environmental association in South Korea .
The Korean environmental organization has a number of strategic goals, including protecting the ecosystem and environmentally friendly land use in South Korea, phasing out nuclear power and switching to renewable energies, and strengthening local green politics by supporting civilian root movements.
Projects
The main topics of the association include the abolition of atomic energy and nuclear weapons, climate protection, renewable energies , handling of chemicals that are harmful to the environment and health, genetic engineering , protection of rivers and waters, protection of biological diversity and corporate social responsibility . The international KFEM projects include a major campaign against the desertification of northeast China and Inner Mongolia from 2003 to 2007 and a project in the Amazon region in Brazil in 2014.
KFEM is involved in a large number of large and small projects.
Protection of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea
The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is a buffer zone between North and South Korea. It was founded on July 27, 1953 by the signing of the armistice agreement. The DMZ is about 150 miles long and 2.5 miles wide. Similar to the Green Belt , a nature conservation project led by the German BUND in the border zone between the former GDR and the FRG, KFEM is committed to protecting the extraordinary natural area of the DMZ. In the past six decades there has been only limited human influence in the DMZ and the adjacent landscapes. As a result, many wild and sometimes threatened animal species were able to retreat to the region and recover, including bird species such as the red-crowned crane . KFEM conducts field research in the DMZ to investigate the biological diversity and ecological value of the region.
Protection of rivers and waters
South Korea is one of the countries with the largest number of dams and, in relation to its area, even has the world's largest density of dams. KFEM advocates greener policies for Korean rivers and bodies of water. The organization is known for the longstanding protest against the larger dam projects. A particularly large construction project is the Grand Chanel project, which provides for the artificial 553 km long connection between the northern Han River and the southern Nakdong River.
organization
In addition to around 50 local district and local groups, KFEM works in six specialized working groups:
- Citizen Information Center (CICE)
- Citizens' Institute for Environmental Studies (CIES)
- Eco cooperative
- Korea Environmental Education Center (KEEC)
- Center for Environmental Law (ELC)
- Monthly magazine Ham-ke-sa-nine-gil
International cooperation
KFEM advocates increased international cooperation and solidarity for the protection of the global environment. As a member of Friends of the Earth International (FoE), KFEM is part of a global network of environmental organizations in 74 countries. KFEM supports FoE's initiatives such as the “Big Ask” campaign for global climate protection.
Furthermore, KFEM works with various environmental associations in Korea and abroad to promote the protection of the Korean ecosystem and Korean and global natural resources.
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://kfem.or.kr/ (Korean)
- ↑ Kim Choony, KFEM, Korea Federation for Environmental Movements, Seoul, 2008
- ↑ http://edutopia.or.kr/ (Korean)
- ↑ http://www.ecolaw.or.kr/wp (Korean)
- ↑ http://hamgil.or.kr/ (Korean)