Baegunsan National Park designation committee launches in Gwangyang

The Committee for the Designation of Baegunsan National Park has officially launched in Gwangyang to advocate for the area's status as a national park. The committee held its inaugural general meeting with approximately 100 citizens and civil society representatives in attendance. Park Bal-jin, representative of the Jeonnam Green Federation, was elected as the standing representative, alongside co-representatives Jeong Gyeong-su of the Gwangyang YMCA and Baek Yang-guk of the Gwangyang Environmental Movement Union.

The movement builds upon a 15-year campaign that originally began in 2010 to prevent the free transfer of state-owned forests to Seoul National University during its incorporation process. The committee aims to shift the focus from merely opposing the transfer of land to actively securing the ecological and public value of Baegunsan through official national park designation.

Moving forward, the committee plans to conduct ecological and landscape resource surveys, develop conservation measures, and establish administrative procedures necessary for designation. They intend to seek cooperation from the Gwangyang City Council, local government, and central authorities. A meeting with the Minister of Climate, Energy, and Environment is scheduled for the 16th to further these efforts.