2:00 PM - 2:15 PM
[HCG19-02] A survey on interest in forests and frequency of visits among residents of the 23 wards of Tokyo (The Center of Tokyo), Japan
Keywords:no interest in forests, no visit to forests, Urban residents
The population of Japan's three largest metropolitan areas accounts for more than 50% of the country's total population, and the population of the nation's 11 largest metropolitan areas is close to 70%, indicating that Japan's population is increasingly concentrated in urban areas, and this trend is expected to become even more pronounced in the future. Under these circumstances, it is extremely important to increase public understanding of forests and forest administration, and to encourage urban residents to take an interest in and experience forests in order to promote the development of forest service industries that take advantage of the various benefits that forest space can provide. On the other hand, it is estimated that 40 to 45% of urban residents do not visit forests, which cover approximately 70% of the national land area, on an annual basis, and a significant number of people do not visit forests even once a year.
This situation encourages indifference to forests, resulting in 1) lack of public understanding of forest conservation and management and forest administration, 2) lack of effective use of forest space, 3) lack of diversity of experiences essential for healthy development of children and adolescents, and 4) loss of opportunities for the health and relaxation benefits of forest visits, 5) the decline of mountain village communities and the loss of local confidence.
In this regard, from the perspective of Robert Zajonc's "mere-exposure effect," which states that "people are more likely to take an interest in a subject if they have many opportunities to come into contact with it," it is thought that getting urban residents to take an interest in forests and then visiting and using them is an effective way to resolve these issues. This is a key to solving the problem of the "mere-exposure effect".
In light of the above, it is important to create a mechanism to encourage those who have little interest in forests (the indifferent group) and those who have little experience using forests (the unvisited group) to visit forests casually. However, in addition to a lack of information on the actual status of the indifferent and unvisited segments, little is known about the relationship between interest in forests and the status of forest visitation and use. In order to investigate what causes indifference to and non-visitation of forests, we conducted a large-scale Web survey of 5,000 Tokyo residents living in the 23 wards of Tokyo to determine their level of interest in forests, annual number of visits, attributes, socioeconomic status, experience with nature, level of happiness, lifestyle habits, and other factors.
The survey results showed that approximately 50% of Tokyo 23 wards residents were "interested" or "somewhat interested" in forests. On the other hand, about 65% of the Tokyo 23 wards residents answered that they had not visited a forest in the past year. Nearly 25% of Tokyo's 23 wards residents "did not visit forests despite having an interest in forests. This report will discuss factors that may inhibit such visits to the forests.
This situation encourages indifference to forests, resulting in 1) lack of public understanding of forest conservation and management and forest administration, 2) lack of effective use of forest space, 3) lack of diversity of experiences essential for healthy development of children and adolescents, and 4) loss of opportunities for the health and relaxation benefits of forest visits, 5) the decline of mountain village communities and the loss of local confidence.
In this regard, from the perspective of Robert Zajonc's "mere-exposure effect," which states that "people are more likely to take an interest in a subject if they have many opportunities to come into contact with it," it is thought that getting urban residents to take an interest in forests and then visiting and using them is an effective way to resolve these issues. This is a key to solving the problem of the "mere-exposure effect".
In light of the above, it is important to create a mechanism to encourage those who have little interest in forests (the indifferent group) and those who have little experience using forests (the unvisited group) to visit forests casually. However, in addition to a lack of information on the actual status of the indifferent and unvisited segments, little is known about the relationship between interest in forests and the status of forest visitation and use. In order to investigate what causes indifference to and non-visitation of forests, we conducted a large-scale Web survey of 5,000 Tokyo residents living in the 23 wards of Tokyo to determine their level of interest in forests, annual number of visits, attributes, socioeconomic status, experience with nature, level of happiness, lifestyle habits, and other factors.
The survey results showed that approximately 50% of Tokyo 23 wards residents were "interested" or "somewhat interested" in forests. On the other hand, about 65% of the Tokyo 23 wards residents answered that they had not visited a forest in the past year. Nearly 25% of Tokyo's 23 wards residents "did not visit forests despite having an interest in forests. This report will discuss factors that may inhibit such visits to the forests.