Last time, I talked about local and global efforts to preserve Mt.Halla. Korean government protects the ecosystem by designating the mountain as a natural monument, and UNESCO also designated it as a biosphere reserve and promotes sustainable development. The best option to preserve the ecosystem will be minimizing human impact. Yet we cannot protect the ecosystem as it is- as a part of the nature, we can utilize the mountain's ecosystem. In order to be successful in both preserving the ecosystem and utilizing the nature, maintaining balance between human and the ecosystem is important. This time, I would like to discuss about what kind of effort people actually put to maintain the balance and what we can do.
*Government
Most of endemic or rare plants are spread on the high part of the mountain. In fact, in order to prevent those plants' habitats from being damaged, the government retracted public access to the mountain 1700m-high or above from 1994. In addition, the government regularly check natural status of hiking tracks on Mt. Halla so that both preservation and human leisure activities are achieved.
*Slowing down global warming
In a previous post, I introduced Kong's (1998) article which suggests that some endemic and rare alpine plants in Mt. Halla is endangered because of global warming. It is true that global warming is the natural part of the climate change on the earth. However, it is undeniable that human activities make global waring faster than it is supposed to be. Thus, our effort to slow down global warming, such as taking bus instead of cars, recycling, and using natural resources can be indirectly related to protecting natural habitats in Mt.Halla.
*Self-awareness on protection of the ecosystem
People need to have more interest in preserving and gaining knowledge about the ecosystem. The government also puts in effort to publicate the mountain’s beauty and variety of vegetation. For example, they provide education about the ecosystem to tourists.
This blog has dealt with various topics about Mt.Halla, from its vegetation type to relationship with humans. I hope the blog posts has helped you to learn the beauty of Mt.Halla and some facts about the ecosystem. Thank you for reading!
<References>
Most of endemic or rare plants are spread on the high part of the mountain. In fact, in order to prevent those plants' habitats from being damaged, the government retracted public access to the mountain 1700m-high or above from 1994. In addition, the government regularly check natural status of hiking tracks on Mt. Halla so that both preservation and human leisure activities are achieved.
*Slowing down global warming
In a previous post, I introduced Kong's (1998) article which suggests that some endemic and rare alpine plants in Mt. Halla is endangered because of global warming. It is true that global warming is the natural part of the climate change on the earth. However, it is undeniable that human activities make global waring faster than it is supposed to be. Thus, our effort to slow down global warming, such as taking bus instead of cars, recycling, and using natural resources can be indirectly related to protecting natural habitats in Mt.Halla.
*Self-awareness on protection of the ecosystem
People need to have more interest in preserving and gaining knowledge about the ecosystem. The government also puts in effort to publicate the mountain’s beauty and variety of vegetation. For example, they provide education about the ecosystem to tourists.
This blog has dealt with various topics about Mt.Halla, from its vegetation type to relationship with humans. I hope the blog posts has helped you to learn the beauty of Mt.Halla and some facts about the ecosystem. Thank you for reading!
<References>
“Hallasan National Park.”
Hallasan.go.kr. Hallasan National Park, n.d. Web. 28 Otober. 2012.
< http://www.hallasan.go.kr/english/content.php?page=0101>
Jung, Kwang-Joong, et al. The series for Mt. Halla: Human Geography of
Mt. Halla. Jeju: Gak, 2006. Web.
Kong,
Woo-Seok. “The Distributional Patterns of Alpine Plants of Mt. Halla, Cheju
Island, Korea.” Journal of the Korean Geographical Society (1998): 191 – 208. Web.
