The State of Timber Resource Use for Korean-Chinese Traditional Wooden Houses and Accessory Structures, from the Perspective of Landscape Conservation

Abstract

Korean-Chinese have a thorough knowledge of using timber resources to construct wooden structures (wooden houses and accessory structures). However, the modernization of Korean-Chinese villages leading to these wooden structures disappearing and the traditional landscape changing. This study aims to comprehend the state of timber resource use for wooden structures and to discuss wooden structure conservation. The following methods were employed: 1) analyzing the impaction of forestry policies on the forest supply of timber resources through documents and interviews, 2) analyzing the use of substitute material for timber in terms of village reconstruction policies through documents and interviews, 3) analyzing the use of wooden structures by visual inspection, 4) analyzing indigenous knowledge of timber resource use and wooden structures management through an interview survey. The results indicated that forest supply of timber cannot be reconciled with traditional practices of wooden structure construction and the wooden structures utilization has declined since 1980s. These changes are ascribed to the restrictions of timber logging and the use of non-timber materials in village reconstruction. In an effort to conserve Korean-Chinese wooden structures, we suggest that new policy should be set up to satisfy the villagers’ demand for timber resources and allow villagers to use and manage the wooden structures.