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Korea’s forest healing is at a critical juncture. Now that we have established a world-class public welfare system, more complex tasks are ahead of us. Forest healing should evolve into a private industry that is a scientifically proven medical practice and has self-sustainability. This huge transition should be built on two pillars. One is a scientific basis to prove its healing effect, and the other is an institutional framework that will unlock the potential of the private sector. The World Forest Healing Forum in 2025 is an important milestone that will open this new phase. The establishment of the World Forest Healing Forum’s international organization signals the birth of a new international platform by seeking ways to link forest health functions and medical prescriptions and create economic benefits beyond forest health and happiness.

Shin Won-seop of the World Forest Healing Forum Photo Planet 03

The value of forests goes beyond material production to immaterial services

The value of forests is shifting from material production to immaterial services. In the past, forest policies focused on the production of wood for national land restoration and economic development. The task of the times was to green and use bare mountains on the ruins of war as resources. However, since the 2000s, as urbanization and industrialization have accelerated, the social demand for immaterial values such as recreation, healing, and psychological stability provided by forests has increased.

These changes are an inevitable result of Korean society entering a stage where quality of life is emphasized beyond material survival. Pathological problems such as extreme stress, burnout, and world-class suicide rates have emerged to the forefront of society, requiring new solutions. Physically restored forests are now attracting attention as resources for mental recovery. The forest functions as a space that promotes the psychological stability of the people, and its social role is fundamentally reorganized. This shows that the core value of forest policy has shifted from production to quality of life.

Facing the success and limitations of state-led forest welfare at the same time

Korea is a leading country in institutionalizing forest welfare. In 2015, the institutional foundation was established through the enactment of the Forest Welfare Promotion Act, and public infrastructure such as national healing forests was established. A system is also in operation to train ‘forest healing instructors’ through 180 hours of professional training and national qualification tests for personnel with medical or forest education. This state-led professional manpower system has contributed to setting qualitative standards and increasing reliability of forest healing services.

However, these successful systems have structural limitations at the same time. Currently, forest welfare services depend on public budgets, and the space provided is often limited to public forests. As a result, there is a problem that it is difficult to spread the service based on the region or expand private participation. In particular, the lack of an institutional foundation to utilize private forests, which account for more than 60% of all forests, is the biggest obstacle to the spread. In other words, even though the state has established an efficient system, the limitations are clearly revealed in that its scope of application is limited. In order to secure the sustainability and scalability of forest welfare, it is time for institutional transformation based on the premise of participation in the private sector and the use of private forests.

Forest Healing, Preparing to Transition from Emotional Comfort to Medical Prescription

The next step in forest healing is integration with a formal medical system. It goes beyond just health promotion and aims at therapeutic interventions for specific diseases. Chungbuk National University, in collaboration with psychiatrists, is developing a clinical model that officially prescribes forest healing programs instead of drugs to depressive patients. The patient receives the program from a designated forest healing instructor according to his or her doctor’s prescription, and reports the progress online to his or her physician. Based on this feedback, the doctor adjusts the following programs and continuously manages the treatment process.

As such, the ‘prescription system’, which includes diagnosis-prescription-course management, is a strategic approach to incorporating forest therapy as part of systematic medical practice. By introducing the language and procedure of medical care, it is intended to lay the foundation for forest therapy to secure clinical efficacy and institutional trust in the existing medical system.

Ultimately, the goal is to include forest therapy in the national health insurance system to establish itself as a public health service with a sustainable financial structure and accessibility. This can contribute to reducing the burden of increasing medical expenses due to aging and strengthening prevention-oriented national health strategies.

Unlocking the Black Box of Forest Healing on Scientific Basis

In order for forest therapy to become an official prescription model in the medical community, it is essential to secure scientific evidence. It is widely known that forests help health, but it is not yet fully known which mechanisms of action are involved. Forest therapy will still remain in the category of sensory experience or intuitive perception if we cannot explain why and how it works.

To overcome this, rigorous and systematic research is required. Quantitative data are needed to determine which diseases and environmental factors are effective, and how much intensity and time are required. For example, it is necessary to statistically prove how many hours of forest activity in coniferous forests with high phytoncide concentrations for patients with specific anxiety disorders.

When these scientific evidence is accumulated, doctors can prescribe forest healing as precisely as drugs, leading to the development of standardized protocols and establishing an industrial foundation that can be replicated, verified, and commercialized. Scientific research goes beyond simple academic work and is a key foundation for forest healing to become institutionalized and sustainable.

We need to build a new economic model that will lead to private industrialization

In order for forest healing to spread throughout society, a self-sustaining industrial ecosystem based on the participation of the private sector is needed. It should go beyond the simple concept of welfare and develop into an economic industry that creates jobs and profits. The key is to induce the participation of private forest owners, who account for more than 60% of the country. To this end, institutional reorganization is needed to define and utilize immaterial values such as healing and recreation, which have been recognized as free services so far, as profit resources of forestry.

Overseas cases are a good reference. In Germany, private associations certify public and private forests as healing forests, and forest healing instructors pay user fees and independently operate programs in the space to generate profits. Japan focuses on revitalizing the local economy and operates a complex tourism industry in which local communities link healing programs, accommodation, and healthy diets based on the health effects of scientifically certified forests.

For small business owners in Korea who lack capital, smaller but more specialized programs are a realistic alternative than large facilities. For example, it targets niche markets such as teenagers suffering from school violence trauma, office workers suffering from burnout, and elderly people seeking high-end wellness. This is not a large general hospital, but a small clinic model with expertise in a specific field. The division of roles in which the state provides universal services and the private sector provides specialized services tailored to various demands can be a realistic strategy to sustainably expand the forest healing industry.

Korea’s Forest Healing Presents Global Standards

Korea is attracting international attention in the field of forest healing based on advanced laws and systems. The participation of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as an official partner of the World Forest Healing Forum is an example of this status. Now, Korea is trying to expand its success experience to international standards, not just an example.

The new international organization, which is scheduled to be launched through the forum in 2025, will be a key platform to systematically support this. This organization will continue the achievements of the forum on a regular basis and will perform the function of linking and coordinating each country’s forest healing policies and information.

This move is a strategy to convert the leading position secured by Korea into institutional leadership. For example, by proposing Korea’s strict forest healing instructor qualification system as an international standard, its institutional performance can be established as a global standard. This is a process in which Korea is positioned as a practical central country that presents policy directions and operating principles in the field of forest healing.

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Sources: https://www.planet03.com/post/인사이트-신원섭-세계산림치유포럼-회장-산림치유-의료-처방-모델로-국제적-플랫폼-탄생-예고