EDITORIAL: Revitalizing Japan's forest industry

In his policy speech to the Diet in June, Prime Minister Naoto Kan expressed his intention to support the renewal of the forest industry. We hope he will stay true to his word.

As the prime minister says, there is new hope for the forest industry because of shifts in supply and demand for lumber around the world. China has surpassed Japan to become the world's largest importer of logs, while exporters like Russia and Southeast Asian countries have begun preserving their natural resources.

At the moment, wood chips made from broadleaf trees in Japan are cheaper. It is now possible to find ways to compete against foreign products, and Japan should make use of this opportunity.

Efforts to stop global warming are also shining a light upon the forest industry. If Japan, blessed with rich forests, makes better use of its natural resources, it will move a step closer to responding to the needs of our time--shifting toward a low-carbon society.

Japan is a rainy country with a mild climate, suitable for growing trees. The nation has an accumulation of forest trees exceeding 4 billion cubic meters in terms of tree trunks, and the figure is increasing by 80 million cubic meters a year.

The annual increase is sufficient to meet domestic annual lumber demand. However, to our regret, the self-sufficiency rate for lumber is as low as 24 percent.

It is little wonder the government led by the Democratic Party of Japan is calling for the revitalization of forestry. Its plan is to increase the number of simple and small-scale strip roads so that more large machinery can be brought into the forests to significantly reduce the costs for logging and transport. This is a pragmatic way to promote the industry, different from the previous approach of building large-scale forest roads.

During the Diet session that ended in June, a law was enacted requiring central and local governments to make efforts to use wood for low-rise public buildings. This measure should be expanded.

It is also important to simplify the overly complex distribution system, as well as to require clear labeling of the wood's origin.

Public subsidies for tree-thinning work should also be increased. Heavy costs hinder such efforts, and this is harming the forests.

Public understanding is essential in pursuing these policies. We should start by providing more opportunities for people to enter the dim and damaged forests and see firsthand how the forestry industry and the forest environment are both facing a crisis.

On May 22, designated as the International Day for Biological Diversity, people around the world planted trees at the United Nations' behest.

In Japan, volunteers held health checks of forests, enabling people to survey and understand the poor state of our manmade forests.

Forests may seem beautiful from the outside, but once you step inside, you will find that is far from the truth. Japanese cedar and cypress trees as thin as bamboo are sprouting all over, preventing sunlight from shining through. There is no undergrowth on the dimly lit soil, and no signs of any animal or insect life. Many of the people must be shocked at the sorry state of the forests.

Growing dependence on foreign imports crushed demand for Japanese lumber, leaving the domestic forests neglected. This is occurring in many of the artificial forests that cover 10 million hectares around the country. Something must be done.

Health checks for forests began in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture. The city was seriously damaged by a heavy rainstorm that hit the Tokai region in 2000, and citizens turned their eyes to the mountains upstream. A tree-thinning project now in progress will use 10 billion yen ($113 million) in municipal funds over a decade.

Much should be learned from the passion of the hundreds of citizens who went into the mountains and surveyed the forests for no financial gain.

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 27