OCI Holdings plants 315 rare and endemic plant specimens in Pocheon

[Financial News] OCI Holdings has begun work to establish a biodiversity conservation garden by planting 315 specimens of 15 species of rare and endemic native plants, including gusangnamu, in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province. It plans to work with the Korea Arboreta and Gardens Institute (KAGI) and others to manage the plants’ growth and pursue seed conservation.
OCI Holdings said on the 19th that it held a volunteer planting event for rare and endemic plants near the OCI Pocheon Training Center in Gyeonggi Province on the 17th, with around 70 employees and family members taking part.
The activity was part of the Arboretum Alliance, a public-private partnership project led by KAGI, which operates under the Korea Forest Service (KFS). The Arboretum Alliance is a cooperative framework through which national, public and private arboreta share resources and expertise and pursue joint projects with companies and institutions.
Employees and family members from four companies—OCI Holdings, OCI, OCI Dream and Bukwang Pharmaceutical—took part in the event. After receiving instruction from experts at the Korea Botanical Garden and Arboretum Association on forest biodiversity and ex situ conservation, participants planted vegetation on a site of about 200 pyeong.
The 15 native plant species selected for planting included gusangnamu, a Korean endemic species listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, as well as miseonnamu, hieori, seomguksunamu and buchaebotkkot.
OCI Holdings plans to monitor the plants’ growth, flowering and fruiting after planting, together with KAGI and the Korea Botanical Garden and Arboretum Association. After collecting seeds, it plans to deposit those from species that meet the requirements at national seed conservation facilities, including the Seed Vault.
OCI Holdings Managing Director Cha Jeong-hwan of the Corporate Communications Department said, "We will continue to pursue biodiversity conservation activities and further advance our ESG management."

[email protected] Kim Mi-hee Reporter