Completion of Heukseoksan Healing Forest, Full-Scale Development of Geumgangsan Dulle-gil Trail Forest for Tourism Resources
[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Hyun] On the 9th, Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do announced that it is accelerating the forest resource development project to enhance the value of clean natural scenery and forests in preparation for the spread of non-face-to-face tourism in the COVID-19 era.
Geumgangsan Mountain in Haenam-eup, known as the guardian mountain (Jinsan) and a beloved resting place for residents, will have a premium trail created.
The trail, with a total length of 34.26 km, will connect 26 km of existing forest roads and hiking trails around Geumgangsan and Mandaesan Mountains by 2023, and an additional 8 km of new forest roads will be constructed in undeveloped sections. The trail will feature small forest gardens along main routes and will be composed of various paths such as gravel, dirt, sand, and flower paths.
Additionally, sections offering panoramic views of Haenam-eup within the existing forest roads, cypress and lily tree forest areas, and areas harmonizing vast fields with the scenic views of Jujaksan and Heukseoksan Mountains will be incorporated into the trail to expand sightseeing and recreational opportunities.
This year, following the phased plan, a 1.5 km forest road will be newly constructed on the Okcheon-myeon Singye to Yeongsin section to create a biking path, and the trail development will be steadily promoted to foster it as the representative trail of the Haenam-eup area.
The Heukseoksan Healing Forest, a representative recreational forest of Haenam, will also be fully completed and officially operated after four years of construction.
The healing forest, developed 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.
In particular, the healing forest features a 740 m barrier-free deck path and a 350 m black stone path centered around an oak tree colony that emits a high amount of negative ions, allowing visitors to walk through phytoncide-rich forest trails for healing.
Since its completion in June last year, the official opening of the healing forest has been delayed due to concerns over COVID-19 spread. This year, outdoor facilities such as tree houses will be supplemented, and forest healing programs will officially begin operation from the end of March.
Furthermore, 16 old forest houses over 20 years old within the recreation forest will be rebuilt, and outdated recreational facilities such as gardens and swimming pools will be modernized to intensively develop the area as a forest recreation tourism facility.
With the creation of the healing forest, it is expected to establish itself as a representative forest recreation facility in Haenam 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.
Haenam-gun plans to cultivate valuable forests by nurturing 66 hectares of Hwangchil trees through regional specialized afforestation and special-purpose tree planting this year to create an income base for residents, and to develop large-scale forest landscape resources with 131 hectares of scenic tree species such as cypress, maple, and red holly in the mid to long term.
In addition, to prevent forest disasters, this year, 1.9 billion KRW will be invested in five sites for forest watershed management projects and the construction of check dams, expanding disaster prevention facilities by creating new erosion control structures.
County Governor Myeong Hyun-gwan stated, “The value of healing tourism resources utilizing Haenam’s clean nature and forests is higher than ever after COVID-19,” and added, “While faithfully managing forests, we will actively promote forest resource development by incorporating sufficient opinions from various sectors encompassing history, culture, and scenery.”
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