The workshop, sponsored by the Ministry of Land and Environment Protection with cooperation of the Swiss Cooperation Office in the DPRK, was attended by related officials from the ministries and national institutions, teachers and researchers.

Present there were representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the European Union Programme Support, the East Asian Office of the World Agroforestry Center and the Swiss Cooperation Office here.

Ri Song Il, a department director of the Ministry of Land and Environment Protection, said in his speech that the DPRK Government set the agroforestry management as an important economic strategy and established legal and mechanical systems, thus paving a way for carrying on the management on a nationwide scale.

He elaborated on the achievements gained in the management in Suan County, North Hwanghae Province and other parts of the country, with cooperation of international agencies and several foreign countries.

Martin Weiersmuller, representative of the Swiss Cooperation Office here, said in his speech that the 4th National Workshop on Agroforestry would serve as an occasion for sharing experience gained by the Ministry of Land and Environment Protection and his office in some 100 trial sites and attaining a legal framework for expanding the management.

The floor was also taken by the representative and experts of the East Asian Office of the World Agroforestry Center and representatives of the FAO and the European Union Programme Support.

The speakers said the agroforestry management played an important role in improving the people's livelihood and restoring mountains' scenery.

They referred to the ways for preventing land degradation in the management sites and exchanged experience and views they obtained in carrying on the management.

The workshop discussed a draft national strategy for developing the agroforestry management in the DPRK.

Participants in the workshop visited the township of Suan County, North Hwanghae Province, where the management is gaining momentum on a trial basis.