was held in Pyongyang Wednesday.

Present there were officials, scientists and researchers of the Central Committee of the Nature Conservation Union of Korea and other relevant organs and members of the delegation of the Asian Regional Office of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Addresses were made at the seminar by Kim Sun Il, secretary general of the C.C., the Nature Conservation Union of Korea, and Aban Marker Kabraji, director of the IUCN Asian Regional Office.

They referred to importance and significance of the capacity-building of PA management and plants and animals species conservation and called for swapping the achievements and experience gained in this field at the seminar and strengthening mutual cooperation.

A briefing on the IUNC was given to be followed by speeches under such titles as "On the management of protection areas in the DPRK" and "On international biosphere reserve in Mt. Kuwol".

The speakers stressed the need to survey and draw out a classified list of the animals and plants put in peril of extermination due to the global warming and ecological destruction and arouse public interest in their conservation now that the number of those animal and plant species is steadily increasing worldwide.