Hyundai Glovis’s green initiatives, known for its environmental conservation efforts, has expanded to local schools. On June 11, a special forest was created at an elementary school by Hyundai Glovis as part of its Ecological Forest Project. The space opened as a sanctuary for various flora and fauna within the school grounds.
The literal meaning of “conservation” is “protecting and maintaining something in its original state.” At its core, the task of protecting nature from pollution and harm involves safeguarding and maintaining existing organisms, enabling them to thrive within their ecosystems.
This is why Hyundai Glovis has taken steps to conserve biodiversity as part of its corporate social responsibility for the environment. Work to safeguard the environment actually began last year. As of March 2023, environmental education has been made mandatory in elementary and middle schools, highlighting the increasing importance of education on biodiversity. This has focused attention on educating children about the environment as they grow up.
As a first step in this initiative, last year Hyundai Glovis established classroom forests in four different schools. Employees donated endangered plant species to Choongam Elementary School, Songjeong Elementary School, Wolcheon Elementary School and Wonkwang Elementary School, one of which is a pilot carbon-neutral school, so that the plants could be used for education. As a result, 2,700 children now have small forests as part of their classrooms for hands-on environmental education.
After taken a step closer to establishing urban ecosystems through classroom forests, Hyundai Glovis became determined to create a “real forest” to mark the Environmental Month of June. On June 11, an ecological forest was established on a school’s unused land to create actual habitats for wildlife. This would be called “Hyundai Glovis Ecological Forest 1” with Seoul’s Sangwon Elementary School being the proud host.
Designated by the city as a Seoul-type innovation school, Sangwon Elementary School has been focused on “building a sustainable education-centered environment” as a core initiative. The school’s high interest in environmental education among its teachers led to its selection. The urban school forest features plant species designated as rare by the Korea Forest Service such as Veronica pusanensis Y.Lee, wild flag iris, zombie hosta, and Korean abeliophyllum, alongside indigenous Korean flora like montane aster, Korean bellflower, and Korean montane aster. The design of the ecological forest was based on two outstanding entries selected from a design competition held over two weeks in May among Sangwon students.
From design to planting, students participated in cultivating a 50-square-meter unused area, in which 1,225 Korean native plants, including rare species such as Korean abeliophyllum, Jeju mountain willow, and wild flag iris, have been planted.
Hyundai Glovis Ecological Forest 1 in Sangwon Elementary School was designed considering everything from plant observation to plant watering
Hyundai Glovis employees and students who joined in creating the ecological forest got their hands dirty, touching the delicate yet resilient roots and stems of plants, experiencing firsthand the vitality of nature and its life force. Hyundai Glovis’s ecological forest project, with the goal of preserving nature and fostering environmental leaders, will continue into the latter half of this year. Ecological Forest 2 is set to open near Hyundai Glovis’s Seoul and regional officials. Building on the experience of the firsts forest, the company aims to expand the scale of future ecological forests, potentially planting larger trees to provide children with even denser forests. Going further, Hyundai Glovis’s long and mid-term goal with the Ecological Forest Project is to create an ecological network for biodiversity by establishing urban ecological forests at key regional business hubs nationwide.
Hyundai Glovis employees and students work together to create seed balls (round balls made by mixing red clay and seeds, known for easy planting and high germination rates)
A big hit with the children, the seed ball making proved to be a sensory experience, akin to playing with mud
Hyundai Glovis volunteers carefully transplant rare and native plants
Urban farmers for a day, Hyundai Glovis employees carefully handled seeds, selected soil, and planted them
In front of the ecological forest, a plaque now stands proudly, reading: “Hyundai Glovis Ecological Forest 1 for Urban Biodiversity Conservation”
By Editiorial Department
2024.06.24