On the occasion of World Day for Combating Desertification and Drought (June 17), Ri Kyong Sim, department director of the Ministry of Land and Environment Protection, told KCNA:

Various works for the protection of land were launched on a nationwide scale.

A long-term plan for afforestation (2015-2024) and an agro-forestry management strategy (2014-2023) were drawn up to provide a political and legal foundation for the protection of agricultural ecosystem and the sustained increase of productivity. Consequently, an agro-forestry management method has been actively introduced and river improvement and anti-land-sliding projects have been pushed ahead in a sustained way to prevent the loss of forest land by natural disasters and protect the farmland.

This year, full-scale excavation of river bed and other projects were started in the areas with high-risk of flood damage under a long-term plan for afforestation and water-conservancy.

Also, a work is going on to hit the international land degradation neutrality target, signed by the DPRK government.

The DPRK became a member of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Juche 92 (2003).