[The Hwankyung Ilbo] The Ministry of Environment's National Institute of Biological Resources said it confirmed that the number of native species in as of the end of December last year was 50,827 through a project to establish a comprehensive list of national biological resources.

The number of native species has nearly doubled to more than 50,000 in 22 years since 1996 when the Ministry of Environment first compiled 28,462 species in its study of domestic species. The number of species on the Korean Peninsula is estimated to be about 100,000 species.

A total of 1800 new species, including 1,122 invertebrates, 633 microbes, 34 plants and 11 vertebrates, have been listed.

Currently, the native species in Korea are comprised of 1,995 species of vertebrates, 27,683 species of invertebrates, 5,477 species of plants, 5,226 species of fungi and lichens, 6,013 species of birds, 1,984 species of protozoans, and 24,49 species of bacteria.

“The competition to secure biological resources around the world is intensifying due to the Nagoya Protocol agreement,” said an official from the National Institute of Biological Resources. “The establishment of the list of national species is the basis for securing the biological sovereignty of Korea and will be the basis of future industrial construction using biological resources.”

조수빈 리포터  press@hkbs.co.kr

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