In order to raise the public interest in biodiversity, the United Nations set May 22 as the International Day for Biological Diversity, calling on all the countries and nations to prevent the extermination of wildlife and protect the biological resources.

The DPRK has dynamically waged activities in various forms and ways to protect and increase the biodiversity that serves as a structural element of natural ecosystem and promotes the sustainable development of the economy.

In recent years, a legal guarantee was provided for more smoothly settling the issues of protection and utilization of wild animal and plant resources and their habitats which take an important position in protecting the country's ecological environment. Relevant regulations in the Protection of Useful Animals Law and the Nature Reserve Law of the DPRK were supplemented or amended in September 2020 to provide a guarantee for protecting more effectively the biological resources in the country.

As a part of the work to keep the wild animal sanctuaries in proper condition and expand their areas throughout the country, wild animal sanctuaries were reclassified and renamed and an area covering more than 7,000 hectares in Popdong County of Kangwon Province was newly set as a wild animal sanctuary last year. After all, the area of wild animal sanctuaries across the country expanded 50,000-odd hectares in addition and the number of sanctuaries grew into 26.

Progress has been made in the work to provide the habitat conditions for wild animals in every spring and autumn.

As the country lies in the EAAF (East Asian-Australasian Flyway), a regular survey and study of overall migrants' habitats involving the migratory bird (wetland) reserves has been carried out to correctly evaluate the special character of migrant distribution in every season and year and, on this basis, take a step for protecting the migratory birds and their habitats.

Meanwhile, tree-planting has been conducted on a nationwide scale and steps for preventing forest fire, insect damage, landslide and soil erosion have been taken to protect the forest ecological environment.