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| We are here. 70% of Japanese territory is covered by forest. World’s Forests Map by ESA. |
So, in Japanese forests, landlords are struggling to keep their property healthy and sustainable. Institutionally, Japanese government, local and national, also attempts to help as this is the age of COP and SDGs. According to a professor for Tokyo University this February, “The budget for taking care of the forests is allocated abundantly. Problem is, Japanese forests cannot digest such generous offerings due to man-power problems.” Hmmmmmmmmm. At least, we are trying. Let me tell you the story.
Until (roughly) the 1980s, Japanese policy regarding forests was for forestry business. Due to population expansion, successive wars and economic growth, there was a massive demand for woods for energy (until coal, then oil, dominated the economy) and for construction. Especially after 1952, Japanese market for woods was overheated, which made increase in prices for wood products far outpaced the general inflation. Japanese government scrambled to tackle the issue. They gave generous subsidies for landlords to log and plant seedlings massively for cedars and cypresses that could grow straight (i.e. suitable as construction materials) and relatively quick. In addition, in 1964, the year for the first Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, the government completely liberalized imports of woods and wood products to satisfy the demand. It seems to me they optimistically thought once one-off monetary incentive let them afforest, private business would take care of the forest for 50 years until the next crop is ready. They also did not expect during the subsequent 50 years wages in cities became easily available and far better for rural kids who once stayed for their birth-forest and took care of the ancestral land, but now moved to Tokyo for, first factory, and, now sales jobs. Worse, the government underestimated the power of comparative advantage imported woods had: they were far cheaper even with global transportation costs. By the time Tokyo will host the 2nd Olympics and Paralympics Game of 2020, Japanese forestry has been decimated. Mr. Junji Ino’ue 井上淳治 of Nishikawa Forestry Area 西川林業 (my post last week 😉) self-deprecatingly said, “You see, we Japanese foresters count our heads about 45 thousand as of 2015. The estimated number of Japanese serow was about 100 thousand in the early 1980s when crop damage by them could be ignored. Now, many fields next to forests all over Japan regularly report destruction by the animal, and they are legally protected as a ‘special natural monument.’ Who’s in the danger of extinction!?”
By 1971, Japanese forestry business rapidly became rare, even with liberal subsidy. Thank God, before that time bold mountain was scarce in Japan, which was good. Roughly half of Japanese forests were now of afforested coniferous trees. But Japanese forests that had lost the battle to cheap imports could not expect proper management any more. No mowing, thinning, or pruning was done. At the turn of the century, cedar and cypress seedlings planted packed turned into congested forests of lanky trees. Not enough sunshine reached to the forest floor. It made the ground below the canopy bared. Instead, rain dropped directly to the soil without cushions of grasses. When it poured in steep Japanese mountains, the rain immediately transformed into rapid streams that washed away the top soil. The entire forests were unstable. Landslides and devastation of check dams showed up in dangerous frequency for this earthquake-prone archipelago. Meanwhile, people started reacting positively to “environmentally conscientious” messages. After 1992 UNFCCC and 1997 COP3 in Kyoto, opinion polls showed people got to think of forests not as places for industrial materials, but for CO2 sink, recreational space, and clean air. Till then, Japanese policy for forests was a part of national industrial policy. Responding to the changes in circumstances, during the 1990s the government changed the direction for nation’s forest management radically. First, in 1998, they quit central commando mentality for forests, and transferred the role of planning and supervision to local governments. In 2001, strict regulation over forestry activity, defined by Americans during 1945-1952 occupation era, was abolished and the 3rd parties were allowed to plan and execute forestry based on business contract with landlords. It opened the gate for volunteer organizations to engage in serious forest management activities. Local and national governments, together with landlords, were expected to devise long-term management plans for forests in each locale to achieve land conservation, cohabitation of forests and human society, and sustainable forestry. In 2008, mowing, thinning, and pruning were defined as a part of methodology to maximize CO2 absorption by forests … That’s something when we recall the start was simple “chop to build cities for business.”
Actually, history of Lovers Association of Niiharu Citizen Forest 新治市民の森 reflects such changes in national policy. Niiharu Citizen Forest was opened in March 2000 as the 22nd Citizen Forest of the City of Yokohama. Our Niiharu Forest had almost unique characteristics. From the beginning, it was the largest Citizen Forest in Yokohama. It means lots of landlords existed (and exist even now) for the forest. Until then, management of each Citizen Forest of Yokohama was almost exclusively done by landlords and their very close friends. The only exception was Araizawa Citizen Forest 荒井沢市民の森 opened in May 1998, where landlords could not find enough helping hands from their acquaintances and consequently asked their neighborhood associations to mobilize the people. Niiharu Forest with lots of landlords would not have had such problem so that it might have been possible for them to follow so-far-standard approach to exclude volunteers. Even though, the founding “fathers” and “mothers” of Niiharu Citizen Forest did not do that. The first pals of Lovers Association were neighbors many of whom happened to move in Yokohama from far and found the magic of Niiharu Forest in their new neighborhood. They were really “volunteers.” That was impossible if the law General MacArthur gave effective monopoly of forestry activity to landlords. Then, after the 2001 change in the law for forestry planning, Niiharu Lovers Association had lots of study sessions and created “Conservation and Management Plan for Niiharu Citizen Forest 新治市民の森管理保全計画” that is consisted of detailed project managements plans with zoning. (More to Niiharu’s 20 years in my later post.) In 2015 Niiharu Forest was designated as one of the 500 “Important Satochi-Satoyama to Maintain Biodiversity in Japan” by the Ministry of Environment. Indeed Niiharu Forest now protects several endangered species in the middle of uber-urban Megalopolis Tokyo. Japanese policy change after UNFCCC is achieving its goals so far.
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| Parking for visitors to Niiharu Citizen Forest is here! |
To some extent, Kanagawa Prefecture has a leg-up to respond national policy changes. For one thing, we are a part of Tokyo area where lots of possible volunteers live. Historically, mountains and forests of Kanagawa have been a research field for geologists, civil engineers of water and mountains, botanists, zoologists, and dendrologists in many universities of the capital city. In Kanagawa Prefecture, it was not so hard not only to make planning for the forests but also for timely execution of it. Next week, I introduce you 50 Year Plan of Kanagawa Prefecture for our forests.
If you find an environmental issues
in Kanagawa Prefecture, please make a contact with Kanagawa Natural Environment Conservation Center
神奈川県自然環境保全センター
657 Nanasawa, Atsugi City, 243-0121 〒243－0121 厚木市七沢657
Phone: 046-248-0323
You can send an enquiry to them by
clicking the bottom line of their homepage at http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/div/1644/
