Nature in North Korea

North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, has about 3,070 kilometres of coastline and around 340 islands and islets. Its natural regions include the highlands around Mount Paektu, broad forested mountain areas, river and lagoon systems, West Sea tidal wetlands, and East Coast marine environments. The West Sea wetlands lie along the East Asian–Australasian Flyway, a major migration corridor, and support about 180 migratory bird species, including 26 rare species. Older national datasets list 10,012 plant species and 9,795 animal species. The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan dataset records 161 threatened animal species. Species associated with conservation attention include tiger, leopard, musk deer, otter, cranes, the black-faced spoonbill and the white-bellied black woodpecker. Most available biodiversity data date from 2006 to 2018, so they do not provide a complete current picture. Protection uses several overlapping categories: strict nature reserves, nature parks, animal reserves, plant reserves, migratory bird and wetland reserves, natural monuments, aquatic and plant-resource reserves, and protected forests. The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan recorded 879,275 hectares of protected land, or 7.2% of the national territory, and included expansion goals of 8% to 10%. A target in the Sixth National Report called for at least 11% of land and 10% of coastal and marine areas to be protected by 2020, but independent verification of that target is not available. The August 2026 World Database on Protected Areas profile lists 35 protected areas, has no management evaluations, and represents about 3% of sites as polygons and 97% as points. These figures require caution because mapped boundaries and completeness are limited. Five UNESCO Man and the Biosphere reserves combine protected core areas with buffer and transition zones where research, education, tourism or regulated use may occur. They are Mount Paektu at 132,000 hectares, Mount Kuwol at 52,715 hectares, Mount Myohyang at 74,501 hectares, Mount Chilbo at 50,340 hectares including 4,570 marine hectares, and Mount Kumgang at 254,076 hectares including 8,469 marine hectares. Mount Kumgang has also held UNESCO World Heritage status since 2025. North Korea has two Ramsar sites, which are internationally recognized wetlands: Mundok Migratory Bird Reserve at 3,715 hectares and Rason Migratory Bird Reserve at 3,525.7 hectares. The National Coordinating Committee for Environment, the Ministry of Land and Environment Protection, the Ministry of Forestry, the Ministry of Fishery, the State Academy of Sciences, the Centre for Nature Conservation, the State Hydro-Meteorological Administration and local People's Committees all have nature-related functions. Responsibilities overlap, and coordinated work between sectors remains a documented need. Mount Kumgang also involves the Cabinet and the National Administration for the Protection of Cultural Heritage. The main legal and policy framework includes the 1986 Law on Environment Protection, the 1992 Law on Forest, the 1995 Law on Protection of Scenic Spots and Living Monuments, cultural-heritage law, the revised biodiversity strategy and action plan, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Nagoya Protocol, which North Korea joined in 2019. Nature-related work includes forest restoration and afforestation, watershed, soil and water conservation, in-situ protection of species in their natural habitats, ex-situ protection outside those habitats, fisheries and water-resource management, and conservation of medicinal plants used in Koryo medicine. Local farming and fishing can be compatible with nature protection where they are managed as resource use, while sustainable tourism is mainly described for reserve buffer and transition zones. Formal policies also refer to environmental-impact assessment, monitoring and threatened-species Red Data Book work. No reliable nationwide public right of access, standard permit procedure or complete tariff schedule is available in the cited primary material. Entry for tourism, research or education depends on the site, zone and authorization, and officially described activity is concentrated in suitable buffer or transition areas and designated educational settings. Biodiversity education appears in primary, middle and university teaching, as well as television, radio and press. Field-based ecological education is documented for Mount Myohyang, and reserve-awareness work, local training and research stations are planned or reported, although their actual reach is difficult to verify independently. Major pressures include overuse of forest resources for fuelwood and timber, deforestation, land reclamation, infrastructure, overgrazing, soil erosion, water loss, habitat fragmentation, overfishing, invasive species and pollution. Climate change adds changing precipitation, drought, floods and hail as pressures on ecosystems and resource use. These pressures create conflicts between conservation and fuelwood collection, forestry, farming, fishing, settlement, infrastructure and tourism. Buffer zones, ecological corridors and cooperation between responsible sectors are repeatedly identified as practical responses, while specific current local conflicts remain only partly documented. Regional relevance differs sharply: Mount Paektu and other high mountains require different management from West Sea wetlands, East Coast and marine areas, or river and lagoon systems with more localized administration.