South Korea planted more than 10 billion trees after the Korean War, and its forests made a remarkable comeback

South Korea's forests were in an exceptionally poor condition after decades of exploitation and the destruction caused by the Korean War.

By 1960, the average growing stock had fallen to just 10.6 cubic metres per hectare, compared with about 100 cubic metres per hectare in the early 1900s.

Large areas had been stripped of trees, leaving the country's mountains vulnerable to erosion and communities short of fuelwood.

The response was one of the most ambitious reforestation efforts of the twentieth century.

Beginning on a large scale in 1959, the South Korean government introduced programmes to restore degraded hillsides, control erosion and increase supplies of wood.