Jeonnam's Largest Forest Healing Facility, 'National Naju Forest Center,' Opens

Jeonnam Governor Kim Young-rok and Jeonnam Superintendent of Education Jang Seok-woong are planting commemorative trees at the opening ceremony of the National Naju Forest Center held in Gyeonghyeon-dong, Naju-si on the afternoon of the 12th. Photo by Jeonnam Province

[Muan=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Jeonnam Province announced on the 12th that it has opened the National Naju Forest Healing Center at the foot of Geumseongsan Mountain in Naju, leading forest healing, culture, and forest education in the post-COVID-19 era.

The opening ceremony was attended by about 100 people, including Kim Young-rok, Governor of Jeonnam Province; Lee Chang-jae, President of the Korea Forest Welfare Promotion Institute; Jang Seok-woong, Superintendent of Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education; Kang In-gyu, Mayor of Naju; as well as heads of related organizations and residents, who celebrated the occasion.

This opening resulted from the province and Naju City discovering Geumseongsan, which is close to the city center and has established forest infrastructure among the national forests in the province, as the optimal site for forest healing, and recommending it to the Korea Forest Service.

Geumseongsan was selected as the National Naju Forest Healing Center due to its beautiful forest scenery, numerous famous spots where the millennium-old history and culture of Naju coexist, and its convenient location near the Gwangju-Jeonnam Joint Innovation City.

The National Naju Forest Healing Center was developed on 58 hectares around Geumseongsan (San 40-3, Gyeonghyeon-dong, Naju City) with a total national budget of 20 billion KRW invested from 2018 to this year.

Operated by the Korea Forest Welfare Promotion Institute, a public institution under the Korea Forest Service, it is equipped with experience facilities such as an experience center, auditorium, forest tea garden, forest houses, healing forest trails, as well as lodging facilities, enabling customized forest healing.

The programs mainly include ▲Forest Creation (forest exploration and recreation) for youth ▲Forestory (forest interpretation and forest experience activities) for adults ▲Forest Nawa-ra Ttukttak (forest exploration and ecological play) for families and the general public.

Additionally, various programs tailored to different groups, such as woodworking experience and tea ceremony experience, are also organized.

Reservations can be made by phone, and from next year, reservations will also be available on the National Naju Forest Healing Center website.

Kim Young-rok, Governor of Jeonnam Province, said, “The newly opened National Naju Forest Healing Center is expected to play a significant role in the post-COVID-19 era,” adding, “It will provide various forest healing programs linked with forest healing facilities in the province to residents exhausted by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.”

He continued, “We plan to hold the ‘2021 World Forest Healing Congress’ utilizing clean blue resources such as forests, gardens, sky, and wind, and we will do our best to promote Jeonnam as a global hub for forest healing.”

Meanwhile, Jeonnam Province, which operates nine healing forests and sixteen natural recreation forests, is meticulously preparing for the ‘2021 World Forest Healing Congress,’ expecting the event to widely promote the excellence of Jeonnam’s healing forests and serve as an opportunity for related industries to take a step forward.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.