2013 Volume 18 Issue 2 Pages 135-140
This study examined first-year high school students' perceptions of "forests" in general, "artificial forests," and "natural forests" and investigated factors associated with their knowledge of forests, experience of visiting forests, and gender. A questionnaire was administered in a high school in Kobe, Japan, in 2009. The valid response rate was 97.6% (boys 146, girls 139). There were three main findings: carbon storage was less expected in forests in general and natural forests by those who knew the item "substitute for wood products," but more expected in natural forests by those who knew "management by people"; the factor "experience visiting forests" increased students' expectations regarding rare species protection in natural forests, but decreased their expectations regarding carbon storage in the three types of forest; and boys perceived timber production as a function of artificial forests more than girls did.
