This year, too, a nationwide land management campaign was carried out vigorously in the DPRK.

Tree seeds for afforestation were secured and many forests newly created across the country.

The forest guidance bureau under the Ministry of Land and Environment Protection mapped out a detailed plan for the collection of seeds according to tree species and intensified guidance over the correct implementation of the plan.

North Hamgyong Province set the proper time for seed collection in conformity with the characteristics of tree species and collected the seeds without any waste in the right time, thus securing quality seeds.

Kim Chaek City started collecting seeds from the seed-gathering forest to meet the actual conditions, thereby gathering lots of seeds in a short span of time and Onsong County secured tree seeds of over ten species more than planned.

North Hwanghae Province made a strict inspection of the collected seeds and stored and managed them in a scientific way according to their species to prevent the decay and degeneration of them and other regions including South Hamgyong Province and Rason Municipality prepared seeds of wild fruit and other tree species of high economic value.

South Phyongan Province created thousands of hectares of forests of economic value, and the Phangyo County Forest Management Station in Kangwon Province planted well over 10 000 hectares of pine nut tree, oak and chestnut forests and millions of trees of good species in recent several years, turning the mountains of the county into “gold and treasure mountains”.

River improvement was pushed forward on a large scale across the country.

According to data available, North Phyongan Province undertook hundreds of thousands of square metres of river embankment and well over a million cubic metres of dredging.

South Phyongan Province rearranged rivers and streams by doing millions of cubic metres of dredging, hundreds of thousands of cubic metres of earth laying and hundreds of thousands of square metres of stone covering.

Rason Municipality pushed ahead with dredging, embankment and stone covering, thus realigning long sections of rivers and streams this year.

Officials concerned in South Hamgyong Province looked round rivers and streams to make a detailed study of the amount and rate of flowing water. On the basis of this, they made sure that dredging and embankment were carried out in a scientific way in the areas through which the Songchon and other rivers and streams flow, thus ensuring the quality of river and stream improvement projects.

Roads have been spruced up all across the country.

South Phyongan Province stepped up the technical reconstruction and paving of narrow roads and those on steep slopes and the installation and repair of safety facilities in thousands of places in a planned way.

Kangwon Province finished the technical reconstruction of roads planned for this year in a qualitative way by dint of a mass movement for land management.

North Hamgyong Province made successes in the project for restoring bridges.

Meanwhile, many ground-cover plants were planted in residential areas, parks and pleasure grounds to add beauty to their landscape and spruce up streets and villages across the country.