Chungcheongnam-do Province has created a forest of bee-friendly trees. 8.48 million bee-friendly trees have been planted in a 33.799 million square meter forest, an area of more than 4,700 soccer fields, over the past five years. A bee-friendly tree is a tree that feeds honeybees and has been evaluated as a good solution to the disappearance or extinction of honeybees. Chungcheongnam-do Province has attracted attention as it first pushed for a solution in the face of the disappearance of honeybees worldwide due to climate change.

Honeybees are essential for people and the earth. Honey, a natural sweetener, is one of the reasons people value the honeybees. It has antioxidant, anticancer properties and is a traditional medicine. Honeybees also have an important effect on pollination. Bees greatly help plants grow, including food crops, because they help pollinate more than 90 percent of the world’s top 107 crops. Experts are concerned about the global food supply, especially the supply of fruits and vegetables. Without bees, there would be no coffee, tomatoes, almonds, apples, etc., and these foods are an essential source for survival of human beings. There is a direct relationship between farmers’ yields and bees. The reasons for the decrease of honeybees are allegedly changes in agricultural methods, global warming and diseases.

Honeybees are known to account for the pollination of more than 70 percent of the world’s fruits and vegetables, and they provide 50 trillion won in economic value to humans annually. For this reason, Chungcheongnam-do provides food to honeybees through the first stage project for creating a bee-friendly forest. The bee-friendly forest development project was also selected as one of the top 10 policies for the province. 

A provincial official said that he would continue to lead the revitalization of the beekeeping industry by diversifying the bee-friendly tree species and expand the foundation for fostering economic forests. From next year to 2027, the project will reportedly begin the second phase to create a 2.95 million square meter bee-friendly forest with trees customized to their flowering periods or species.