![A tree-planting ceremony for the 2026 Incheon Hope Forest project, held last year. [Incheon City]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/08/11/news-p.v1.20260811.00b227f7893542458334b7cf7e82978d_P1.jpg)
A modest tree-planting initiative launched by Incheon residents to combat yellow dust and desertification in Mongolia has grown over 19 years into an international environmental cooperation project spanning 157 hectares.
The Incheon Metropolitan Government said Tuesday it plans to share the achievements of the Incheon Hope Forest project with the international community at the 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17), to be held in Mongolia this year.
The project was launched in 2008 by Incheon civil society organizations to address Mongolia's desertification and yellow dust problems.
At the time, civic groups including the Incheon Round Table and the YMCA raised 335 million won ($236,000) through public donations and used the funds to plant 52,000 trees in Mongolia's Bayannuur and Songinokhairkhan areas by 2010.
What began as a grassroots citizen effort later expanded into a public-private partnership involving both the city government and civil society.
During Phase 1, carried out from 2013 to 2017, the city planted 6,300 trees across 45 hectares in the Dashinchinlen soum area of Mongolia.
Incheon then signed an agreement with the Ulaanbaatar City Department of Natural Environment in 2018 and launched Phase 2, aimed at creating a 100-hectare forest in the Songinokhairkhan district by 2027.
The Incheon Hope Forest now covers a total of 157 hectares — roughly the equivalent of 220 soccer fields — with more than 250,000 trees planted to date.
The city surveyed soil conditions, climate and water supply at the arid planting sites and selected tree species suited to the local environment, including Scots pine, Korean pine, larch and Siberian elm.
It also secured a 15-year land-use agreement from Ulaanbaatar and built supporting infrastructure — nurseries, greenhouses, water wells, a management office and irrigation channels — helping maintain a tree survival rate of approximately 78 percent at the current planting sites.
Over the past 19 years, a total of 797 people have taken part in creating the Incheon Hope Forest. The project is also tied to Incheon's carbon neutrality policy: the city manages the forest as part of its 2045 Incheon Carbon Neutrality Strategy, specifically under its carbon sink expansion initiative and greenhouse gas reduction budget program.
The Incheon Research Institute estimates that the forest created through this year will absorb approximately 1,620 metric tons of carbon dioxide — equivalent to the annual carbon emissions of about 350 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles.
This year, the city plans to plant about 6,000 Korean pine trees across an additional 10 hectares in the Songinokhairkhan planting zone, with 8,500 more trees to be added across another 10 hectares next year to complete Phase 2.
At UNCCD COP17 in Mongolia this year, the city will share 19 years of afforestation experience and results with the international community.
The city plans to present key case studies including how a citizen-driven initiative evolved into a long-term intergovernmental cooperation project, local resident participation, the establishment of self-sustaining infrastructure such as nurseries and water wells, forest management practices, and youth environmental education programs.
Through this, the city aims to promote the project as a model of urban cooperation in which local governments, citizens and local residents jointly address climate change and environmental challenges across national borders.
With Phase 2 nearing completion, the city is also reviewing whether to proceed with a Phase 3.
It plans to conduct a comprehensive assessment of afforestation outcomes, tree survival rates, site management conditions and carbon absorption effects, as well as evaluate the feasibility of independent management by local residents, before deciding on the project's future direction.
"The Incheon Hope Forest is a meaningful project in which a single tree planted by a citizen became city policy and grew into international environmental cooperation between two countries," said Yun Eun-ju, head of Incheon's Environment and Safety Division. "We will share 19 years of accumulated experience and achievements with the world at the UNCCD COP and present new possibilities for inter-city cooperation in addressing the climate crisis."
gilbert@heraldcorp.com
