20 Sites Selected Through Open Call for the Children's Facility Timber Conversion Project
Korea Forest Service Improves Indoor Environments with Eco-Friendly Domestic Timber
The Korea Forest Service announced that, as a result of its open call for the 'Children's Facility Timber Conversion Project'—which transforms the indoor environments of daycare centers with eco-friendly domestic timber so that children can touch and experience domestic wood—it has selected 20 sites, including the Eunhaengnamu Daycare Center in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul.
The 'Children's Facility Timber Conversion Project' is a program in which the Korea Forest Service and local governments provide support to improve the indoor environments of daycare centers with eco-friendly domestic timber, so that children—who spend most of their time indoors—can live in a more comfortable and healthy setting while directly touching and experiencing wood. Each selected daycare center will receive 70 million won in national and local government funding out of a total project cost of 100 million won, with a self-payment of 30 million won.
According to research by the National Institute of Forest Science, converting indoor environments to timber releases a certain amount of phytoncide—the same substance one can experience in a forest—into the air, producing positive effects in improving skin and respiratory conditions.
For this open call, daycare centers that applied through the forestry departments of cities, counties, and districts nationwide were evaluated through a first-round document review and a second-round expert feasibility assessment, from which the final 20 sites were selected. The comprehensive evaluation considered the suitability and feasibility of the project content, the use of local timber (locally produced domestic wood), as well as additional points for factors such as designation as a public-type daycare center and the operation of childcare services for vulnerable groups.
Kim Yong-gwan, Director-General of the Forest Industry Policy Bureau at the Korea Forest Service, said, "Timber is a familiar material that has been used since ancient times for building and furniture, and because it can store carbon for a long time, it is also an important resource for achieving 2050 carbon neutrality." He added, "Going forward, we plan to identify and pursue a variety of proactive administrative policies to promote the excellent benefits of harvested domestic timber and to help the public make good use of domestic wood in their daily lives."
▲ The Korea Forest Service held an open call for the 'Children's Facility Timber Conversion Project,' which transforms the indoor environments of daycare centers with eco-friendly domestic timber, and selected 20 sites. The photo shows an indoor sharing forest created at a welfare facility (a social welfare corporation daycare center).