### 3. Efforts by Households

In order to convert to a society and economy that take biodiversity into consideration, it is important for each of us individuals to aim for a lifestyle that takes biodiversity into consideration in our daily lives. Ministry of the Environment has released the three pillars of “feel biodiversity (feel the nature and living beings around you),” “protect biodiversity (participate in activities to protect living beings),” and “communicate information about biodiversity (tell others about biodiversity)” as hints for citizens when they make efforts for conservation of biodiversity and sustainable use. Ministry is also calling for people to make a “declaration of my actions,” which is to declare the actions that each individual will take from now on (Figure 3-4-7: Biodiversity “List of People’s Actions”). As of March 2011, 13,189 of those “declaration of my actions” had been collected. It is important for such efforts to be practiced in daily life.

Most importantly, 67% of Japan’s ecological footprint is generated by household consumption activities (Figure 3-4-8: Breakdown of Final Demand against Total Consumption Ecological Footprint in Japan), and from a consumer’s perspective choosing products and services that take biodiversity into consideration also leads to direct conservation of biodiversity. Although there are still few cases in which detailed information is shown about the impact on biodiversity caused by products and services that we use, in recent years efforts have been made to have third-party organizations certify sustainable wood and marine products.

As for wood products, based on the Law on Promoting Green Purchasing, since 2006 the government has been procuring timber and wood products that have been verified as legal and sustainable. The government has also been indicating, both domestically and to other countries, guidelines on methods for verifying the legality and sustainability of timber and wood products supplied within Japan. Forest certification serves as a reference when selecting timber and wood products that have been verified as legal and sustainable. Forest certification is a system led by the private sector under which third-party organizations certify whether forests are being appropriately managed from the perspectives of “whether laws and international agreements are being complied with” and “whether operations that take biodiversity into consideration are being conducted.” Timber produced from those forests is managed separately, labeled, and then distributed. There are various organizations for forest certification systems such as the Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC), the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and the Sustainable Green Ecosystem Council (SGEC). The land area of forests that have received forest certification is increasing, with 129 million hectares around the world certified by the FSC (as of May 2010; Figure 3-4-9: FSC Certified Forest Area Growth), and as of December 2010 there were 100 forests in Japan that had received certification by the SGEC, with a land area covering 864,000 ha.

As for marine products, certain rules have been stipulated for amounts and types of catches, time periods,

Figure 3-4-7 "List of People's Actions" Related to Biodiversity

Figure 3-4-9 FSC-Certified Forest Area in the World.