Suwon Arboretum, an Ecological Landmark, Steadily Preparing for Opening

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] Preparations to develop the 'Suwon Arboretum' as an urban ecological landmark are proceeding smoothly.

Following the establishment of concrete plans for the Suwon Arboretum development, active efforts are underway to secure plant genetic resources through seedling farm operations, tree donation campaigns, and donations of genetic resources from prestigious arboretums.

The Suwon Arboretum is being created with the goal of differentiation as a lifestyle urban arboretum featuring diverse themed gardens including plant genetic resources containing the regional and historical characteristics of Suwon, as well as offering leisure, rest, education, and experience opportunities.

▲Completing the Blueprint for Suwon Arboretum

The Suwon Arboretum, to be developed within Ilwol Park in the area of 430 Cheoncheon-dong, Jangan-gu, will span a total of 101,500㎡ with a project budget of 73.8 billion won, featuring various themed gardens, greenhouses, and a visitor center.

In keeping with the vision of an 'urban regional hub arboretum,' diverse, internationally and domestically recognized superior garden design techniques will be applied.

The themed gardens are divided into two main categories: ecological gardens and welcome gardens. The ecological gardens will feature ▲a forest garden that tells the story of Suwon's history and preserves Suwon's forests ▲a wetland garden showcasing the beauty of wetlands and introducing plants that convey the importance of water ▲a dry garden enhancing climate change adaptability ▲a meadow garden applying naturalistic garden forms to the urban environment—totaling four gardens.

The welcome gardens will feature ▲a winter garden with beautiful plants that remain attractive even in winter, bringing vitality and warmth during off-season ▲an ornamental garden serving as a photogenic spot throughout the four seasons ▲a flavorful garden showcasing the aesthetic value of edible and medicinal plants ▲a rainwater garden awakening ecological awareness of rainwater recycling and water circulation.

The visitor center, to be utilized as a complex plant culture space combining diverse exhibitions and cultural events, will have a total floor area of 2,971㎡ equipped with gardener's room, lobby, café, souvenir shop, research exhibition, event room, and small lecture room.

A 138-space parking lot will also be filled with permeable pavement and rain garden greenery for low impact development (LID).

In particular, buildings such as the visitor center and exhibition greenhouse are designed to conform to the flow and topography of the land, with landscape-level-applied objects ensuring natural flow continues uninterrupted.

Suwon City completed detailed design and operations planning in January, materializing the blueprint for Suwon Arboretum development.

▲Seedling Farm: The Beginning of Arboretum Creation

Construction of Suwon Arboretum, targeting an opening in the first half of 2022, is planned to begin in July, but management of plant genetic resources, the most important component of the arboretum, is already underway.

This is because Suwon City has begun operating a seedling farm to systematically manage essential plant resources.

The seedling farm is a space for securing rare and important plant genetic resources in advance prior to Suwon Arboretum development, and for securing and propagating native plants of Suwon City and important plant resources.

Built at a scale of 14,480㎡ near the Suwon Arboretum site at the end of last year, it contains ▲109 specimens of 38 species of deciduous trees including Mongolian oak ▲355 specimens of 41 species of shrubs including Hiera ▲330 specimens of 21 species of herbaceous plants including annual bluegrass, which will be systematically managed until transplanted to the Suwon Arboretum.

Trees donated through cooperative exchanges with prestigious domestic arboretums including the Korea National Institute of Forest Science Arboretum and Chollipo Arboretum for promoting biodiversity are also being cultivated in the seedling farm.

Furthermore, Suwon City is making efforts to directly collect and propagate 50 species and 600 specimens of plant genetic resources naturally growing in habitats such as Gwanggyo Mountain and Chilbo Mountain to secure diverse plant resources.

In particular, the city has focused on establishing a solid foundation from the preparation stage of Suwon Arboretum development to achieve high-quality exhibition implementation.

The city has encouraged active citizen participation and reflected opinions from all sectors through suggestion boxes, resident briefings, forums, and special lectures.

▲Donation of Tree Species Highly Related to Suwon

Silver birch and loblolly pine, which contributed to the reforestation of the devastated Korean peninsula following the Korean War, originated from Suwon.

The two species were bred by Dr. Hyun Shin-gyu (1912–1986), known as a pioneer of Korea's forest greening, at the Central Forestry Experiment Station, the predecessor of the Forest Genetic Resources Division, and contributed to making forests across the nation verdant.

Silver birch is a hybrid of Suwon's native Suwon poplar and European white poplar, with rapid growth and easy propagation, thriving even in poor soil conditions of that era.

Loblolly pine exhibits the advantages of cold and drought-resistant loblolly pine combined with superior growth characteristics of pitch pine, having even penetrated American coal mining regions.

Suwon City received donations from the Forest Bioresources Research Department of the National Institute of Forest Science of trees researched and developed in Suwon with high historical relevance and deep significance in their widespread application to Korea's environmental conservation.

The donated trees transplanted to the Suwon Arboretum seedling farm in March include ▲45 specimens of silver birch ▲10 specimens of loblolly pine ▲5 specimens of pitch pine ▲30 specimens of crack willow—approximately 130 specimens of 13 species in total.

The donated trees bring budget savings exceeding 63 million won. Given that these trees cannot be easily purchased on the market, the value extends beyond mere financial conversion.

The distributed tree species will be transferred to Suwon Arboretum in the future, where they will be presented to residents through storytelling of important plant research conducted in Suwon.

Suwon Mayor Yeom Tae-young stated, "Suwon Arboretum is a manifestation of citizens' high interest and civic awareness of ecological environment from those who care for and love the natural environment in Suwon, an environmental city," and added, "We will develop it thoughtfully so it becomes a true ecological landmark of Suwon City."