Korean Air celebrated the 20th anniversary of its reforestation project on May 28 in Baganuur, Mongolia after resuming from a four-year hiatus due to the pandemic.
The Korean Air Forest initiative – aimed at combating desertification – saw 112 volunteers this year from the airline, including new hires, and resumed planting activities over two weeks starting from May 20.
Initiated in 2004, each year, a group of 100 to 200 airline employees take part in the Korean Air Forest afforestation effort. The project was temporarily suspended in 2020 due to pandemic restrictions, during which time local forestry experts and residents maintained the forest.
“We started planting trees here 20 years ago, and both South Korea and Mongolia have been steadily cultivating the Korean Air Forest together,” said Sumiya Davaasüren, governor of Baganuur District.
Located 130km from Ulaanbaatar, Baganuur District is a coal mining region spanning approximately 31km² and supplies about 60 per cent of Mongolia’s coal demand. Prior to the forest planting, coal dust from open-pit mines affected local villages – recognising the need for afforestation, Korean Air began planting trees to eventually cover an area of 44 hectares.
Currently, the Korean Air Forest is home to over 125,300 trees of 12 species including poplars, Siberian elms, sea buckthorn, and willows, which can thrive in harsh environments. In 2019, an automated watering system was installed to ensure the trees had stable conditions to grow. As a result, the tree growth rate is 95 per cent, with the tallest tree reaching 12 metres.
The forest, which stretches two kilometres long and 222 metres wide, acts as a barrier to block dust and debris from nearby coal mines, and the ecosystem is gradually being restored as various wildlife such as insects, skylarks, rabbits and foxes make Korean Air forest their home. It also serves as a venue for local students’ picnics and field trips.
In addition, Korean Air is actively involved in giving back to the Mongolian community. The airline has donated computer classrooms to seven schools in the area and provided medical services to the community in cooperation with Inha University Hospital.
He has previously held key roles at Amari Johor Bahru, Tunamaya Beach & Spa Resort Desaru, Meritus Pelangi Beach Resort & Spa Langkawi, and Hotel Royal Penang.
Within Earth Holidays, an inbound tour operator and destination management company based in Kuala Lumpur and specialising in the European inbound market to Malaysia, is expanding its operations to Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah and Indonesia’s Bali in the coming months to better serve its European clients for leisure and business events.
Executive director, Saini Vermeulen, announced that the company had recently secured its inbound license for Saudi Arabia, allowing the company to offer non-religious tours.
The company sees significant potential for inbound tourism from Europe to Saudi Arabia and will be establishing a sales and marketing office established in Jeddah in July – Within Earth Holidays will also collaborate with Saudi Tourism Authority to draw more visitors to the destination.
In addition, the Bali office will open in 2H2024, targeting inbound leisure and business events from Eastern Europe and German-speaking countries such as Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. He remarked that the German-speaking markets have shown increased interest in visiting the Far East post-lockdown, supported by improved air connectivity.
“We have been working with a good representation company based in Germany, who has great connection with agents in the German speaking markets and Europe who have brought leisure and business event groups to Malaysia and Indonesia for many years. Our agents appreciate our operations in Malaysia, and when our representation company ended their cooperation with an Indonesian ground handler, we saw it as an opportunity to open an office in Bali to service our European agents.”