Consideration in Viewpoints of University Students in Instructor of Forest Environmental Education Activities in a Village-vicinity Mountain Area (Satoyama):

Abstract

is the long-term forest environmental education that has been conducted by Kawana Satoyama Ranger, student-led a volunteer group working to conserve Kawana green space located in the southern part of Fujisawa, Kanagawa. This forest environmental education activity, called the "Yato (valley) expedition" allows a child to experience nature with their bodies. The contents are mainly walks in nature and crafts. The purpose of this study was to examine consideration mainly from a safety perspective in the viewpoints of college students as rangers (instructors) as the contents changed, based on records of expeditions over 15 years conducted by this ranger team. Text mining was used to analyze the implementation records of rangers. The results showed that students pay attention to the following points in the student-led forest environmental education activities: injuries to participants, time management of the program, health management of participants, speed of movement according to the participants. On the other hand, if it is student-led, members will be replaced every year. Therefore, it should be noted that the safety and health care considerations of the student perspective may not be carried over.