Government legislation ministry says reservoir forest zones can be designated in part

South Korea's government legislation ministry said that the forestry chief or a provincial governor may designate only part of the forest lying within one kilometer of a reservoir's high-water mark as a first-class water-source conservation zone, confirming that the designation is a discretionary act rather than a mandatory sweep of the entire area.

The ruling, issued in response to a citizen inquiry, turns on how the spatial limit in the enforcement rules of the Forest Protection Act should be read. That provision sets the designation range for first-class water-source conservation zones at within one kilometer of the full water level, with the watershed divide as the boundary where one falls inside that distance.

The ministry interpreted the one-kilometer limit as defining the outer edge of where such a zone may be drawn, not as an instruction to designate every parcel inside it. Under the Forest Protection Act, the forestry chief or a metropolitan, provincial or special self-governing city or provincial governor may designate a forest protection zone when there is a particular need to protect forest, and water-source conservation zones are defined as areas deemed necessary for recharging water sources and preventing floods.

The enforcement rules call for designation by lot number or by natural boundaries such as ridges and valleys, and allow part of a single lot to be carved out when a lot-number designation is unsuitable, supporting the reading that the one-kilometer range is a zone within which the portion actually needing protection is selected.

Within a forest protection zone, felling, gathering of forest products and changes to land contours are restricted in principle under the Forest Protection Act, which means a designation affects how landowners may use their property. The Framework Act on Administrative Regulations requires that regulatory targets be set to the minimum scope needed to achieve the regulatory purpose, using the most effective method.

The answer applies to first-class water-source conservation zones, which are forests around reservoirs recognized as directly affecting the storage capacity of major industrial water supplies downstream.