As Korea has undergone industrialization and urbanization, the living environment has improved greatly, traffic has become convenient, and quality of life has improved. The quality of life has improved, but the quality of the environment has deteriora...
As Korea has undergone industrialization and urbanization, the living environment has improved greatly, traffic has become convenient, and quality of life has improved. The quality of life has improved, but the quality of the environment has deteriorated due to the increase in concrete buildings and the decrease in greenery.
The increase of mental and physical diseases caused by various competition and the limitation of modern medicine have once again made a hunger for nature-friendly life which is a fundamental tendency of human being. The increased leisure time of life has relieved stress in nature. As the desire for nature-friendly life has increased, the demand for forest green spaces has been increasing day by day, and it has begun to seek out the mental living environment of the forest, away from the physical living environment of the city.
In this situation, people needed information on which recreation forest have optimal healing effects. However, existing researches are only proceeding with partial studies on individual forest healing factors and development of forest healing programs. Therefore, it is not effective to provide information about forest healing to visitors.
This study was conducted to investigate the difference of physical condition expressed by forest conditions and geoinformation on forest healing. Through literature review, 10 types of forest healing factors were selected. Based on the selected forest healing facotrs, we conducted an expert survey to finalize the forest healing factors. The selected healing factors were weighted based on the expert questionnaire. Based on importance ranking, we assigned weights with 100 points. As a result, the forest(forest type, age-class, diameter-class, density, and growth conditions) was given 60 points, 15 points for elevation above sea level, 15 points for anions(water), and 10 points for slope. The forest healing index calculated by the weights of the forest healing factors applying the polygons of Saneum recreation forest. Through this study, the forest healing effect of the study site was spatially evaluated. It is confirmed that the southern area of Saneum Recreation Forest is composed of forests with healing effect more than the northern ones.
Although the forest healing index was developed through limited factors such as forest condition and geoinformation, this study could provide spatial information about places where the forest healing is relatively effective in the Saneum recreation forest. Based on the spatial distribution of the forest healing index, it can be used as information for the renewal and management of the stand in Saneum recreation forest. Also, it will provide accurate information about the potential of forest healing to the people who enjoy recreation through the forest.