15~19세기 한반도 산림의 민간 개방과 숲의 변화 (An open-door policy on forests in the 15th∼19th centuries Korea, and changes in the forests themselves)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국역사연구회
· 수록지 정보 : 역사와 현실 / 103호 / 77 ~ 118페이지
· 저자명 : 김동진

초록

이 논문은 조선이 산림의 대부분을 백성들이 이용할 수 있는 공유지로 개방한 정책이 초래한 숲의 변화상과 요인을 살폈다.
왕토사상에 따라 국가의 소유로 인식되던 숲을 조선은 일부 제한된 지역을 제외한 대부분의 숲을 백성들이 자유롭게 이용할 수 있도록 개방했다. 그 결과 15~19세기에 이르는 5세기 동안은 고려 말까지 유지되었던 한반도의 원시적 산림의 대부분은 초원에 가까울 정도로 고갈되었다.
조선시대에 숲을 고갈시킨 요인은 지금까지 대규모 건축과 배의 건조, 자염 제조와 온돌 사용의 증가, 철의 제련이나 도자기와 옹기 사용의 증가 등이라고 지적되었다. 그러나 이들 각 요인에 소비된 목재량을 추산하여 검증한 결과 상이한 결론이 도출되었다. 이들 개개의 요인이 숲을 일시적으로 어느 정도 훼손할 수 있었지만, 숲의 재생력을 넘어서는 것은 아니었다.
역사적 기록을 검토하고, 인간과 숲의 상호작용을 살핀 결과 조선시대에 숲이 고갈된 주된 까닭은 농지개간으로 인구와 촌락, 경작지가 지속적으로 늘어난 데서 찾을 수 있었다. 농지개간 등으로 인구가 집중된 특정 지역에서는 숲의 영구적 손실이 발생했다. 또한 마을에 인접한 산림은 지속적인 벌채로 인해 대부분 소나무 중심의 단순림으로 바뀌었는데, 이곳은 다른 곳보다 비옥하여 화전으로 우선 개발되었고, 화전에 인접한 소나무 숲은 산불로 일시에 넓은 면적이 소실되었다는 기록을 찾을 수 있었다.

영어초록

Essentially examined in this article are probable changes that would have been brought upon the forests, when the Joseon government newly designated forests as public lands and therefore allowed people to have access to most forests as well as resources inside them. In earlier times, all the forests were considered as private property of the king and therefore inaccessible. But the Joseon government (while excluding some areas as limited exceptions) opened forests to the public, and permitted them to freely take advantage of them. As a result, since the 15th century through the 19th, the primeval forest of the Korean peninsula, which had been kept intact till the end of the Goryeo dynasty, was severely reduced in its mass and depleted in its resources. Forests literally became mere ‘green lands.’Of course, there were other reasons which supposedly reduced the forests’ mass in the Joseon period. Large-scale constructions of palaces, offices and ships, production of salt (by boiling sea water), expansion in usages of a certain heating system(“Ondol”) in civilian residences, increase in iron refinery operations and even escalating usage of porcelain and earthenware (which required operation of kilns), all contributed to the increase in usage of wood and therefore would have been detrimental to forest preservation. But an overall analysis of the amount of wood that would have probably been used in each of the above-mentioned areas show that any one of them would not have been severe enough to compromise the forests’ ultimate regenerative power. They could have temporarily damaged the forests from time to time to be sure, but would not have brought them to a point beyond recovery.
Examination of written records suggest that the most irrefutable cause for the forests’ ultimate reduction was a steady increase in reclamation projects aiming for the enlargement of usable agricultural lands, and the expansion of human habitats and villages. Forests were irrevocably damaged in regions where lands were newly upgraded and people started to gather in a concentrated fashion. Also, forests which were close to villages were placed under constant logging, and in many cases slowly turned into pine tree-based pure forests. These places were relatively more fertile that others, and therefore were developed more quickly (than other areas) as slash-and-burn lands, and large pine tree forests close to such lands were oftentimes sacrificed by open fire.

참고자료

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