Gyeonggi Province to Create 150 Additional School Forests

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 22nd that it will create school forests at 150 schools of all levels this year.

A 'school forest' is a project that improves educational environments by creating green spaces within schools that lack adequate greenery. The province has created school forests at 268 schools in total since 2003.

The province will allocate 100 million won per school and create school forests at 150 schools in total, planning to install forests suited to each school's circumstances, ecological ponds, natural learning centers, and rest facilities.

By region, the number of schools receiving school forest projects are: Suwon 16, Yongin 11, Ansan and Siheung 10 each, Seongnam 8, and others.

The province has established diverse plans tailored to each school's characteristics, allowing schools, parents, residents, and alumni to participate from the planning stage onwards in creating forests.

Following its policy to complete school forest creation projects at all schools by 2010—excluding 948 schools where such projects are not necessary out of 1,923 schools of all levels in the province—the province plans to carry out forest creation projects at approximately 150 schools annually.

A provincial official stated, "Through school forest creation projects so far, 7.8 million cubic meters of greenery has increased, and students who only enjoyed computer games are now playing in nature, establishing this as a successful project."