Factors influencing sustainability of traditional village groves (Maeulsoop) in Korea

This study examines the sustainability of traditional village groves (Maeulsoop), forest commons, in South Korea, and investigates factors influencing their sustainability. We assessed the socio-economic functions and ecological conditions of twenty-four village groves in Namwon City, South Korea, and evaluated the sustainability of these village groves. Variables (ownership, self-governance, forest size and location, and village population) were selected based on the social-ecological systems framework, and the influence of these variables on the sustainability of village groves was examined. Out of the twenty-four village groves studied, three (12.5%) turned out to be sustainable with the socio-economic functions maintained and in a healthy state, eight (33.3%) were unsustainable with some of socio-economic functions lost and in an unhealthy state, and thirteen (54.2%) were in a tradeoff state between socio-economic functions and ecological health. Positive relationships between sustainability and the ownership of village groves and the existence of a self-governing management body in villages were observed. This result suggests that when villages own their groves and/or villages have the self-governance, village groves tend to be more sustainable. In addition, forest size, village population, and distance to village center are correlated to the sustainability of village groves. Larger village groves still play a role as a windbreak or flood bank and are more ecologically resilient than smaller groves. Depopulation has led to a lack of labor force that can manage village groves, and village groves located far from villages are less accessible for use by villagers, and thus can be left and neglected without proper monitoring and management. Considering the recent trend of rural depopulation and privatization of commons, this study suggests that collaborations among villages and organizations outside villages are necessary to restore the governance systems and sustainably manage village groves.