S-OIL launches “Natural Treasure Protector Corps” consisting of university students

● The “Natural Treasure Protector Corps” is the only environmental and ecological volunteer corps in Korea that consists of university students. It has 40 members, including biology majors.
● S-OIL pledges systematic support to protect endangered species and nurture future environmental leaders.

S-OIL Corporation launched the “2012 Natural Treasure Protector Corps” in an effort to foster a professional environmental volunteer corps. This corps of natural treasure protectors is the only environmental and ecological volunteer corps in Korea that consists of university students. Its launching ceremony was held at S-OIL’s head office in Gongdeok-dong, Seoul on July 18. 

The Natural Treasure Protector Corps has 40 members, including biology or life science majors and university students with interest in wildlife protection, etc. Experts such as AKOC(Association of Korean Otter Conservation) chairman Han Seong-yong, Kyunghee University’s biology professor Yoo Jeong-chil, and Sungshin Women’s University’s biological science professor Cheon Yong-pil will also join the corps to back, and give advice on, the corps’s systematic activities.

For one year, the Natural Treasure Protector Corps will provide support for environmental protection organizations’ activities and conduct studies and investigations to increase wildlife populations, in addition to voluntarily participating in the protection of wildlife, including natural treasures, at the Demilitarized Zone in Hwacheon and Cheorwon, Gyeonggi Province.

After the launching ceremony, the Natural Treasure Protector Corps went on a four-day trip for an eco-camp. During the trip, it visited the Korean Otter Research Center in Hwacheon, the Goral Restoration Center in Yanggu, and the National Fisheries

Research and Development Institute in Cheongpyeong to observe the ecology of wildlife, examine wildlife populations, remove illegal poaching tools, and monitor unmanned cameras for research purposes. 

S-OIL signed an agreement with Cultural Heritage Administration in 2008 to protect natural treasures. It selects, and provides support for, the members of the Natural Treasure Protector Corp every year to protect endangered species, carry out voluntary work in a more professional way, and nurture future environmental leaders. An S-OIL official said, “We are continuously expanding the areas of activities by running a variety of programs, which include interaction with wildlife ecology research organizations and participation in seminars.”