2020 Volume 102 Issue 1 Pages 83-89
This study examines the implementation status of the “Tree Expert Program for Children” (Kodomo-jyumoku-hakase) being held in various parts of Japan by an evaluation axis based on school-age to clarify its progress. We conducted a questionnaire survey to 242 implementing entities. The results show that the implementation trends throughout Japan are aimed mainly at sparking interest in children and increasing their familiarity with the different types of trees and are a standard part of each implementing entity’s project. Many organizations used familiar trees, such as a characteristic tree species in the park and representative tree species in the area. Therefore, it is difficult to connect directly to larger forests, and further consideration is required. The staff of particular implementing entities often teach about the trees and participants were divided into about ten people per group. Twenty different tree species were described, and the program often lasted about 90 min. On the other hand, some implementers described more than 50 different tree species. Effective implementation for school-age needs to deal with such factors as the number of tree species and implementation time, accounting for the developmental stage of the participants.
