Forest Welfare Voucher Benefits '40,000 People'... Applications Open from the 3rd of Next Month

Provided by Korea Forest Service

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Korea Forest Service will provide forest welfare voucher benefits to 40,000 socially vulnerable people nationwide. This year, the scale of forest welfare voucher beneficiaries has increased by 5,000 compared to the previous year.

On the 21st, the Korea Forest Service announced that it will accept applications for use from the 3rd to the 29th of next month, according to the "2020 Forest Welfare Service Voucher Provision Plan."

The voucher is a system designed to provide socially vulnerable groups, who are easily overlooked in forest welfare blind spots, with a 100,000 KRW voucher to enable the use of forest welfare services.

In particular, this year, considering the demand scale accumulated over the past three years, and comprehensively taking into account the degree of physical discomfort, income level, the number of times previously selected, and experience, priority benefits will be given to first-time applicants in their lifetime to enhance fairness.

Instead of the online lottery method introduced due to the surge in users since 2018, the Korea Forest Service plans to resolve forest welfare blind spots by selecting users based on field conditions and fairness (considering all relevant requirements).

Additionally, the Korea Forest Service explained that they will specify and distinguish between individuals and groups by user type, apply selection criteria reflecting usage performance, expand the number of beneficiaries by utilizing unused amounts, promote use linked with forest welfare specialized businesses, and improve convenience by simplifying voucher application documents.

This year, support for transportation such as vehicles exclusively for the disabled and group buses will be expanded, along with forest experience education support linked with forest welfare specialized businesses to provide services conveniently near living areas.

Meanwhile, as both the number of voucher users and annual satisfaction levels increase simultaneously, it indicates growing public interest in forests and increasing demand for forest welfare. For example, the number of voucher users (satisfaction scores) increased from 9,100 (79.7 points) in 2016, the year of introduction, to 15,000 (83.3 points) in 2017, 25,000 (85.1 points) in 2018, 35,000 (86.7 points) in 2019, and 40,000 this year.

Voucher beneficiaries can experience accommodations and programs at about 190 forest welfare facilities registered as providers of forest welfare services such as natural recreation forests, forest experience centers, and healing forests until the end of October this year.

For more details, please refer to the Korea Forest Service website.

Imira, Director of the Forest Welfare Bureau at the Korea Forest Service, said, “We will improve the problems revealed during the three years of voucher operation so that first-time applicants, who have been relatively neglected, can receive voucher benefits as a top priority.” She added, “The Korea Forest Service will continue to enhance fairness and provide high-quality facilities and programs to realize inclusive forest welfare services.”