People walk under red and yellow autumn leaves around Seoul Zoo in Seoul on Nov. 11, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — Six out of 10 South Koreans visit natural spaces such as parks and forests more than once a month, a survey showed Wednesday.
According to a survey of 7,294 Koreans over 20 years of age conducted by the National Institute of Ecology and Seoul National University, 36 percent of the respondents said that parks are the most important natural sites, followed by forests at 29 percent, rivers and wetlands at 20 percent, sea at 7 percent, field and grasslands at 4 percent and farmland at 2 percent.
At 63.8 percent, a majority of the respondents said that they visit such natural sites more than once a month.
The share of those who said they visit such places every day stood at 4.9 percent, lower than three or four times a week (6.8 percent), once or twice a week (21.3 percent), and twice or three times a month (30.9 percent).
Another 36.2 percent of the respondents said that they visit natural environments less than once a month.
With regard to the level of satisfaction with the ecosystem service (the benefits people receive from nature), the provision of leisure space marked the highest score of 3.14 on a scale of 5 points, followed by air purification and temperature adjustment at 3.06, provision of habitat and circulation of materials at 2.97, and the provision of food and water resources at 2.95.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
