Role of grasslands for enhancement of greenhouse gas inventory in Korea

This study investigates the role of natural grasslands in Korea as carbon sinks and their potential inclusion in the national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory. The Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forestry sector is vital for emitting and absorbing greenhouse gases, requiring an accurate inventory for effective climate policies. In Korea, current GHG grassland inventories focus solely on pasture sites, defined by the grassland law, using spatial data from the Korea Land and Geospatial InformatiX Corporation (LX) map, reflecting land use. This narrow definition excludes natural grasslands and significant carbon sinks, resulting in gaps that violate the Transparency, Accuracy, Consistency, Comparability, and Completeness principle. Our analysis shows that the LX map identifies 542.74 km² of ranch land, while the mid-level land cover map includes 7,974.29 km² of grassland, of which 205.64 km² are classified as natural. These differences highlight the underrepresentation of natural grasslands, contributing to carbon sequestration through soil organic carbon (SOC) and biomass storage. Notably, only 2.48 km² of natural grasslands overlap with ranch land. This study emphasizes the need for independent coefficients and methodologies for natural grasslands, ensuring their inclusion in GHG inventories. Expanding the scope to cover natural grasslands could enhance Korea’s climate change mitigation efforts by accurately reflecting their carbon sequestration potential and providing a more comprehensive basis for national carbon accounting.