Forest Service, Slight Increase in Wood Culture Index... "Thanks to Higher Public Awareness"

This year, the Wood Culture Index slightly increased compared to last year. This is interpreted as an effect of the rising public awareness of wood culture.

The Korea Forest Service announced on the 27th that, as a result of measuring the degree of wood utilization activation in 17 metropolitan cities and provinces, this year’s Wood Culture Index was recorded at 62.2 points, 0.2 points higher than last year.

The Wood Culture Index is an indicator that simultaneously confirms the level of wood utilization and the awareness of local residents, ranging from regional wood production to wooden architecture and wood culture experiences.

In measuring the Wood Culture Index, the Korea Forest Service confirmed that scores for items closely related to the daily lives of the public, such as promotional activities to activate wood utilization and the operation performance of wood culture experience centers, improved compared to last year.

In particular, the Wood Culture Awareness, which gauges the public’s favorability and perception of wood, recorded 46 points this year, 2.1 points higher than last year. This suggests that as public interest in wood culture increases, the Wood Culture Index also slightly rises.

Among special/metropolitan cities, Daejeon (61.3 points), Sejong (56.9 points), and Incheon (54.6 points) ranked in the top three for the Wood Culture Index, while among provinces, Gangwon (80.3 points), Jeonnam (73.9 points), and Chungnam (73.4 points) were the top three.

The Korea Forest Service uses the Wood Culture Index measurement results to advise local governments on policy-making processes in the wood culture sector and reflects them in joint evaluations of local governments.

Furthermore, there is a plan to explore ways to grant additional points to excellent local governments when participating in public projects such as wooden architecture demonstration projects and wood-friendly city projects.

Shim Sang-taek, Director of the Forest Industry Bureau at the Korea Forest Service, said, “The Korea Forest Service will strive to discover and expand wood utilization activation policies that the public can feel, so that wood can become more familiar in the daily lives of the people.”

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