International Symposium on Legality Verified Wood 2010
Part Two Report: Activities in Japan to Tackle Illegal Logging Issues
Presenter Information
NameTokiharu Okazaki

Affiliation

Friends of the Earth (FoE) Japan

Title

Secretary General

Career summary

Responsible for plant exports at a heavy electric machinery
manufacturer for over 30 years.
Entered FoE Japan after retirement. Engaged in preparing policy
proposals for such fields as environmental and social considerationsin climate change and overseas economic cooperation. Attended the2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development as a councilor tothe Japanese government delegation.

Report Outline
Title: Campaign to Spread the Procurement of Fairwood (wood which does not destroy forests)
Report Summary

Brief Self-Introduction
FoE Japan participated in the 1999 WTO (from the standpoint of opposing timber tradeliberalization) together with the Japan Federation of Wood-industry Associations and theNational Federation of Forest Owners’ Cooperative Association. Since that time, we havepursued measures against illegal logging and promoted the use of domestic timber from theNGO perspective.

Efforts for Legal Wood by Your Organization
We have been promoting the use of legal wood, wood which does not destroy forests, and woodfrom sustainable managed forests among (1) the central government and local government
bodies, (2) private enterprises, and (3) consumers ever since. “Promotion of Fairwood among all
sector of Japanese society” was selected by the Ministry of the Environment as a Best Policy
Proposal in 2004 (one of two proposals selected that year). We were deeply involved withpreparing the government wood purchasing guidelines during the revision of the Law on
Promoting Green Purchasing.
In our work with the private sector, we have provided support to Sekisui House, Ltd. and otherhousing suppliers in compiling wood procurement policies, and supported Fairwood procurement
by furniture manufacturers. We have also been advancing public (consumer) education andpromotion through the (Fairwood Café) for the past two years.

Evaluation of Japan’s Supply of Legal WoodFoE Japan’s forestry team began from works to conserve forests in the Russian Far East, andour measures against illegal logging began from conservation of tropical forests in Indonesia. Asfor Russia, the Japan Federation of Wood-industry Associations and the import industry havealso implemented countermeasures, and it may be said that direct imports of illegally loggedwood have dramatically decreased. Regarding Indonesia, we understand that the mixing ofillegally logged wood in plywood and other wood products has greatly decreased as well, thanks
to government and industry level efforts.

Significance of Efforts Together with the Wood Industry Based on Consumer Trends
FoE Japan’s initial efforts were with the Ministry of the Environment, but developed into illegal
logging countermeasures involving the wood industry as well when the Forestry Agency got thewood industry involved after the issue was addressed by the G8. We are proud that theinformation that we have gathered from around the world as an international environmental
NGO is proving useful in terms of both quantity and quality. Our Fairwood activities are uniquefor an environmental NGO as they are a joint undertaking with industry, but we think they have
proven effective.
Our public (consumer) and local public body education and promotion activities, however, still
have a long way to go. The abovementioned (Fairwood Café) has been held once per month tointroduce furniture, wooden tableware, organic sweets and other items, and otherwise makepeople more familiar with forests and wood, but it has not always attracted enough participants.

Future Issues
We need to expand our campaigns to reach areas that cannot be covered under the present
illegal logging countermeasures.
1. Some wood products imported from China, particularly furniture and flooring, contain woodfrom rare tree species. Furniture and flooring procurement guidelines are awaited.
2. In expanding the use of domestic wood, the distribution of cedar, cryptomeria, and otherconifers is getting organized, but the market and distribution for useful broad-leaved timbar
needs to be reconstructed. While this may be considered a niche market, it is necessary tograsp the resource and demand volumes, and to construct a sustainable supply structure andchain.
3. Turning to domestic illegal logging countermeasures, the question is, how can we revive
abandoned and unmanaged forests? If nothing is done, instead of revival, will such forests
only increase? The government’s Forest and Forestry Revitalization Plan does not include
measures to address this.
4. Western countries are beginning to introduce protection measures like so-called ( Lacey Act)as border measures against illegal logging. In Japan, the government says the time is not
right for such measures, but are there any alternatives?