“How often do you go to the forest to collect pine mushrooms? Do you practice any forest management techniques to improve the yield? Oh, you say that these techniques actually reduce yields?”

My research looks at the role that forests play in the livelihood of mountain villagers. In particular, I am interested in finding out how households use the forests in their day-to-day lives. This is very important information in designing forest policy that can benefit the communities that use the forest, and help achieve ecological sustainability. In addition to the pilot study I recently carried out in Seorim Village, in Yangyang County, Gangwon Province, I plan to survey 280 households in eight mountain villages during my stay in Korea.

Collecting Information for Sustainable Forest Policy

After two years of research at the University of Cambridge, I was able to come to Korea in late January 2012 to conduct my fieldwork in Korean mountain villages, thanks to the generous financial support of the Korea Foundation. With further assistance from the Korea Rural Economic Institute, the Korea Forest Research Institute, and Kookmin University, I hit the ground running and set about organizing my fieldwork logistics.

The first challenge was to select a sample of villages for my data collection. This proved to be a difficult task, but it was my great fortune to stumble across an incredibly unique forest product: the pine mushroom. One of the non-cultivatable forest products found in Korea, the pine mushroom is highly variable in yield, though an incredibly valuable source of income for harvesters (up to 854,000 won per kilogram when sold to a forest cooperative). Perhaps more importantly, pine mushrooms are extremely tasty! In fact, it is no exaggeration that when I asked two harvesters if a pine mushroom really does taste that good, their eyes glazed over before saying there simply are no words to describe its taste and aroma. Instantly realizing there must be a very interesting story to tell, I selected nine villages in two regions that are famous for their pine mushrooms: Yangyang County in Gangwon Province and Bonghwa County in North Gyeongsang Province.

Field Study Experiences

My method of data collection is time consuming. Each survey, conducted through conversation, requires 20-50 minutes (usually closer to 50 minutes). The surveys are undertaken with the help of two research assistants from the Korea Rural Economic Institute. The survey includes questions concerning general information about the household, household assets, income, and pine mushrooms.
In order to improve the accuracy of the data and to deal with issues of memory recall, the survey adopts a principle of disaggregation, which means that areas of interest are broken up into small manageable questions and answers. The answers can then be reconstructed to obtain an overall picture. There are also several built-in checks that allow for data to be triangulated and checked for consistency.

To be honest, I was not sure how well the survey process would handle itself in the field. Most of the rural household surveys previously conducted in Korea were relatively short (10-15 minutes) and administered as a written . So there was only one way to find out the answer: a pilot study. We set off early in the morning to Yangyang County. The journey takes about four hours. After a quick and hearty countryside lunch, we stopped at the village center. Due primarily to Korea’s economic success and strong policy initiatives to improve the livelihoods of the rural population, there are many village facilities and buildings that mirror their city counterparts. For example, the computing facilities in the village are top-notch. Perhaps more striking is entering a very humble home only to see an enormous flat-screen Samsung TV!

There was a mix-up about the dates of our scheduled visit so the village leader was unavailable. After penciling in an appointment with the village leader for the next day, we asked a villager who was there if he would be interested in taking our survey. Citing the length of the survey, he declined. Not the greatest start, but we kept our heads up and went out into the village and knocked on the first door we came to. An elderly grandmother opened the door. We explained the research and asked if we could interview her. She invited us into her home and as we were interviewing this grandmother, she continued to prepare and package artemisia (인진쑥) for sale to a cooperative. Artemisia is an herb plant that has well-known medicinal properties. The data we collected were more detailed than I could have imagined, and after sharing in her generous hospitality, before we made leave of the grandmother she insisted that I take a package of artemisia for my health. We proceeded to interview 18 more households and the village leader.

New Forestry Measures for Korea

Being an economist, I am used to dealing with data. Unfortunately, the anonymous and often mundane nature of data means that it is difficult to comprehend that each data point represents a real person. Collecting data firsthand, and the accompanying conversations and hospitality that follow are incredibly rewarding. I know that when I sit down and analyze my data, I will be able to match a face to each data point as well as the contextual situation in which the data was collected.

I seek to complete my data collection by June, and to publish my results with a hope that my research will help policy makers to devise forest policies that help to improve the welfare of mountain villagers. Furthermore, I strongly believe that South Korea can provide lessons to both developed and developing countries. In particular, Korea’s relatively recent reforestation projects, strong urban-rural linkages, institutional capacity to add value to primary products, and the current demographic transition affecting the rural economy, are all areas where key lessons can be learned and for the Korean narrative to be shared with global audiences.

Terry van Gevelt
Ph.D. Candidate at the Centre for Development Studies University of Cambridge