Haenam-gun Completes Creation of Heukseoksan 'Healing Forest'

Program Room, Healing Forest Trail, Healing Garden, and More Established

The Healing Forest in Heuksoksan, Haenam-gun, was completed four years after construction began. (Photo by Haenam-gun)

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Hyun] Haenam's representative recreational forest, Heukseoksan Healing Forest, has been completed four years after construction began.

According to Haenam County on the 28th, the Healing Forest, created on 50 hectares near the Heukseoksan Natural Recreation Forest in Gyegok-myeon, includes a 180㎡ Healing Center, healing program rooms, healing forest trails, and healing gardens.

The Healing Center serves as a resting space for visitors, measuring their physical condition, and plans to operate various forest healing programs.

In particular, the Healing Forest features a 740m barrier-free deck trail and a 350m black stone path centered around an oak grove with a high amount of negative ion generation, allowing visitors to walk through phytoncide-rich forest paths for healing.

With the creation of the Healing Forest, it is expected to establish itself as Haenam's representative forest recreation facility by forming a forest complex that integrates healing and forest education along with the Heukseoksan Natural Recreation Forest, which attracts about 30,000 visitors annually, and the Children's Forest Experience Center.

The Heukseoksan Healing Forest minimized facilities and created a landscape harmonized with the surroundings, winning the 5th Jeollanam-do Eco-friendly Design Grand Prize.

Preparations such as enacting operational ordinances and building a website are being accelerated with the goal of opening next year.

Since its completion in May, the official opening of the Healing Forest has been delayed due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19, but with the easing of social distancing measures, forest healing programs will be pilot-operated from the 26th of this month to the 25th of next month.

The forest healing programs will offer experiential activities such as meditation, sensory satisfaction walks, Nordic walking, aromatherapy, tea ceremony, and singing bowl sleep therapy while feeling the trees, sounds, and wind in the forest.

Participation in the healing programs can be reserved by phone or visit to the Haenam County Forest and Greenery Division until the 24th of next month. During the pilot operation period, about 10 people can experience the programs led by forest healing instructors twice daily, in the morning and afternoon.

Anyone needing basic physical strength improvement and stress recovery, including families, office workers, and the elderly, can participate, and the experience fee during the pilot operation period is free.