• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.691-698
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• 2019

This study is to examine the effect of improving the forest therapy program for adolescents using forest healing resources (focused on improving index of greenness for adolescents). The participants were 30 students from in the control group that participated in the 2018 program, and 51 students in experimental group that participated in the improved program in 2019. The questionnaire, developed by Korea Forest Welfare Institute, was comprised of items on general matters, index of greenness, restorative environment, positive emotion, negative emotion, facial expression and psychological assessment. The control group had 30 and the experimental group had 49 valid copies of the questionnaires. As a result of the paired sample t-test for each group, the control group showed a significant increase in all categories except restorative environment. In the experimental group, all categories significantly improved to a higher level (p <.01). An independent sample t-test (one-tailed test) was performed to test the effect of the forest therapy program with improved index of greenness. As a result, the index of greenness increased by 0.73 points(t=2.555, p <.01) and restorative environment by 1.01 points (t=2.567, p <.01), showing statistical significance. Negative emotion increased by 0.04 points (t=0.183, p >.05), which was not significant. On the other hand, positive emotion decreased by 0.42 points (t=-1.918, p <.05), facial expression by 0.57 points (t=-1.775, p <.05), and psychological assessment by 0.29 points (t=-0.981, p >.05), showing significance in positive emotion and facial expression. However, all the decreased items showed significant improvements between the pretest and posttest scores of the experimental group.

• The Journal of the Korean Institute of Forest Recreation
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.71-81
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• 2018

It is necessary to build a quality-enhancing forest leisure sports facility according to values that value life quality, national forest policy. Vita Parcours (fitness trails) is found to be the activities highly convenient, so their introduction and promotion in Korea should be highly considered. field survey was necessary to explore the possibility of installing Vita Parcours. Several sites were selected, such as Asean recreational forest, Unaksan recreational forest, Yumyeongsan recreational forest, Saneum recreational forest, Jungmisan recreational forest and National center for forest therapy. At these locations, we explored the current status of forest facilities and forest trails. A total number of 31 exercise facilities has been identified and surveyed, some of which are located on the trails (2), alongside the trail (9), alongside trail boundaries (2) or represent facilities suitable for both outdoor and indoor exercise within the forest (18), all of whom provide location for 44 different exercise routines (flexibility exercises (23), endurance (12) and strength exercises (9)). Field work also included identification of forests paths, the total number of whom was 34 paths - 30 identified as trails, 2 as hiking trails, 1 as a forest path for relaxation and healing and 1 as an exploratory path. Regarding the structure and shape of these trails, 32 was straight in shape and only 2 designed as a circular forest trails. Average length of these trails was 652.2m with the highest and the lowest point altitude difference of 60m, on average. Saneum recreational forest provide the most suitable site/environment for Vita Parcours and as a result of this, Saneum recreational forest is proposed as a location to support the endeavors in promotion of these valuable forest fitness trails. Among the forest paths at this site, a forest path which has a length of 1.84km and 73.0m the highest and the lowest point altitude difference was selected as the most suitable, and may be equipped with necessary stations for exercise or obstacles. In addition, if these trails are to be introduced and welcomed by its users, we must assure that they are properly maintained.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.108 no.3
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• pp.382-391
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• 2019

This study was conducted to verify whether smartphone hiking apps, which generate social network data including location information, are useful tools for analyzing the use characteristics of a forest recreation area. For this purpose, the study identified the functions and service characteristics of smartphone hiking apps. Also, the use characteristics of the area of Daegwallyoung were analyzed, compared with the results of the field survey, and the applicability of hiking apps was reviewed. As a result, the service types of hiking apps were analyzed in terms of three categories: "information offering," "hiking record," and "information sharing." This study focused on an app that is one of the "hiking record" types with the greatest number of users. Analysis of the data from hiking apps and a field survey in the Daegwallyoung area showed that both hiking apps and the field survey can be used to identify the movement patterns, but hiking apps based on a global positioning system (GPS) are more efficient and objective tools for understanding the use patterns in a forest recreation area, as well as for extracting user-generated photos. Second, although it is advantageous to analyze the patterns objectively through the walking-speed data generated, field surveys and observation are needed as complements for understanding the types of activities in each space. The hiking apps are based on cellphone use and are specific to "hiking" use, so user bias can limit the usefulness of the data. It is significant that this research shows the applicability of hiking apps for analyzing the use patterns of forest recreation areas through the location-based social network data of app users who record their hiking information voluntarily.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.12-29
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to improve forestland characteristic evaluation system's indicators for rational development and ecosystem conservation. There has been no consideration for statistical duplication between variables, and it caused inefficient data collection. Furthermore, the same evaluation criteria were applied for all forestlands without considering regionally different characteristics, and it made variation for designation cancel rates of preservation semi-preservation forestlands between cities. To solve these problems, we first removed 'DBH' variable which has a multicollinearity. Second, we applied standard normal distribution for each forest watershed type. As a result of eliminating 'DBH', the numbers of parcels for all grades except A were changed but their numbers and areas were not large enough to consider the change of total score. For the output of analyses with the existing same regional criteria, the total scores of urban type and urban-fringe type forestlands were higher than those of other types. The numbers of parcels for A and B were increased and those for C and E were decreased by applying standard normal distribution. This caused the increase of preservation-oriented parcels. Finally, we suggested a new evaluation method based on standard normal distribution to consider regional forest characteristics and to solve regional imbalance.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.13-28
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• 2015

In accordance with importance of the economic value of forests and forest use, the paradigm of development and use has emerged as the dominant paradigm of forest policy. As forests are recognized as an important means of Wellness, the government pursues a policy convergence between forest use and conservation. So, this article analyzed whether the change of forestry convergence paradigm is reflected in policy or not. The purpose of this study was to analyze through content analysis and network analysis, whether the new combined text value are fused in how forest policy. According to the results, the function of utilization which is off the traditional forestry industry and recreation, wellness are acquired a greater importance in the 5th plan than 4th plan. But the 5th plan is insufficient to establish of foundation for forestry management and welfare functions. The evidence suggest a sign of sustained paradigm convergency in forest policy of Korea. As the policy implication in establishing national forest master plan, it is necessary to strengthen policy capability to pursue sustainable forestry utilization, which can converge forest use and conservation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.111 no.4
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• pp.651-666
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• 2022

The study aim was to analyze research trends related to the effect of a forest healing program on humans. We analyzed 120 articles by focusing on "Journal information," "Characteristics of study participants," "Program characteristics," "Experimental design," and "Measurement indices." The numbers of papers published in the fields of agriculture and maritime were highest, and the numbers have increased since 1996 when the first paper was published. Many papers have targeted both sex (males and females), middle age, and healthy people. The programs were mainly conducted for multiple times in a forest welfare facility, and exercise therapy, psychotherapy, and plant therapy were primarily administered. Most studies compared experimental and control groups with < 30 participants, and mainly used self-reported surveys. The present study results are expected to be used as basic data for the development of forest healing programs and to expand related research in the future.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.36-45
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• 2022

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to verify physical and psychological effects of life-oriented forest healing program (LOFH) using urban forests in adults over 40 years of age. Methods: A non-equivalent control group pre-posttest design was used. There were 50 participants in the experimental group and 52 in the control group (a total of 102 individuals). The LOFH was conducted twice a week (3 hours per week) for a total of four weeks. Body composition, psychological states (such as depression and anxiety), and quality of life (QOL) were measured before and after the program. Results: Depression was significantly reduced in the group to which the forest healing program was applied. There was no significant difference in body composition (body mass index, body fat percentage, muscle mass, lean mass), other psychological states (anxiety, mood), or QOL. Conclusion: The LOFH was useful for improving depression in adults over 40 years of age. It is necessary to develop other LOFHs to improve body composition and quality of life.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.104 no.3
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• pp.454-465
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• 2015

This research analyzed characteristics of networks among stakeholders related to forest trail management. Results of analysis showed that Jiri way and Uljin trail had council-led network. As both trails were supported by government, the government had much power to make decisions and manage trail. But parts that mediated differences of interests among various stakeholders were insufficient. To manage forest trails effectively, it is necessary that hub organization which can have networks and make decision considering different interests have to develop and it have to authorize hub organization to take a right role for management of forest trails.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.110 no.3
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• pp.308-321
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to analyze domestic research trends over the past 20 years and future direction of forest ecology using text mining. A total of 1,015 academic papers and keywords data related to forest ecology were collected by the "Research and Information Service Section" and analyzed using big data analysis programs, such as Textom and UCINET. From the results of word frequency and N-gram analyses, we found domestic studies on forest ecology rapidly increased since 2011. The most common research topic was "species diversity" over the past 20 years and "climate change" became a major topic since 2011. Based on CONCOR analysis, study subjects were grouped intoeight categories, such as "species diversity," "environmental policy," "climate change," "management," "plant taxonomy," "habitat suitability index," "vascular plants," and "recreation and welfare." Consequently, species diversity and climate change will remain important topics in the future and diversifying and expanding domestic research topics following global research trendsis necessary.

• The Journal of the Korean Institute of Forest Recreation
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.35-48
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• 2018

This research was carried out to provide a good quality forest healing program as a basic source of development by researching the general characteristics of users of Geiji Mountain in North Jeolla Province, the recognition of forest healing and regional preference programs. As a result of the survey, Geigisan Mountain is used as a natural place for recreation and leisure of residents of Jeonju. The most important factors in the selection of forest healing programs for visitors were the activities, organization and chronology of the program, and the main purpose was to improve health. Week-by-week programs utilizing weekends were preferred for management of forest healing programs. It was revealed that sports programs prefer to enjoy natural scenery, forest experience programs, healing programs, forest therapy programs, meditation programs, and listening to forest music. The outcome of this study is expected to be used as a basic source for developing and researching a program for forest healing in the area of Mt. Meanwhile, the limit on the composition of suitable forest healing programs according to preference is required for continuous and continuous integrated study of the forest healing program for the future of the forest healing program.