As part of the project, KNPS developed the K-OECM toolkit (v 1.2) in August 2023 and distributed it to members of Korea Protected Area Forum (KPAF), civil society, and other relevant experts. The K-OECM toolkit (ver 2.0) will be elaborated in the first half of 2024 with lessons learned from pilot study sites and some components of the IUCN Green List standard.

Through a brief screening process, around 30 types of potential OECMs were identified in Korea, including green belt, conservation asset, conservation agreement, buffer zone of BR, Buffer zone of WH, and others.

Currently, a review is underway of sites managed under local government ordinances that are expected to have a biodiversity conservation effect. Data is also being collected on the common lands of civil society organisations and companies' conservation agreement areas. A list of potential OECM sites, including these regions, is being compiled.

These research results will be shared through a capacity building workshop scheduled in the second half of 2024.

Photo: Meer Forest, Jincheon.

- an area created through a corporate conservation agreement

- endangered species such as otters, wildcats and goshawks inhabit the area.