Silviase/jgov_v1.4_full_ann huggingface dataset:
### 1. Forest Management

#### 1.1. Forest Resources

Forests have multiple functional roles, including landslide prevention, watershed conservation, carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, and wood production. In order to fulfill those functions, vigorous and diverse forests need to be maintained.

Two-thirds of Japan’s land area is covered with forests, with a total forested area of 25 million hectares. Approximately 40% of these forests are artificially planted forests and the major planted species are sugi (cedar), hinoki (cypress), and karamatsu (larch). Forest ownership in Japan can be divided into approximately 70% for private owners including local governments, and 30% for the national government.

Japan’s forest resources are mature enough for intensive harvesting. The total volume of the forest inventory reached 4.4 billion $ m^{3} $ in 2007 and the share of the planted forest area exceeding 50 years in age will exceed 60% by 2017 (Fig.4-1).

Fig.4-1: Distribution of planted forest area by forest age class in 2007

#### 1.2. Fundamental Policy on Forest and Forestry

In July 2011, the “Forest and Forestry Basic Plan” was revised, setting the new goals of “fulfillment of multiple functional roles of forests” and “supply and use of forest products.”

The “National Forest Plan” was also revised at the same time. The new plan abolished the three national functional types of forests and allowed each municipality to define its own functional types taking into consideration regional conditions. The “Prefectural Forest Plans” were then revised accordingly.

The “Municipality Forest Plan” was redefined as a “master plan” for the forests in each municipality, and the 1,614 municipality forest plans were also revised by the end of FY2012.
#### 1.3. Forest Management

In order to maintain the multiple functional roles of forests, forests need to be properly managed and conserved through thinning and replanting.

The Forestry Agency is promoting “thinning” activities by providing financial support to local governments according to the “Thinning Promotion Special Law” and direct assistance to forest owners for forestry practices, including thinning for material use and development of the forest road network with the goal of achieving 3.3 million hectares of thinning between 2007 and 2012. In 2011, the total area of thinned forests was 550,000 hectares.

Fig.4-2: Annual area of thinned forests in Japan

(Fig.4-2). In some private forests where proper management activity is urgently needed, forest management activities including planting and conservation works are conducted by public bodies on behalf of private forest owners to maintain the multiple functional roles of forests.

Obtaining information on forest owners is essential to assure proper forest management. However, the number of forests whose owners are unknown is increasing due to an increase in the number of forest owners living away from their forests as a result of inheriting from their parents. In response, the revised “Forest Law” introduced a mandatory notification system for new forest owners to local municipalities. The Forestry Agency is also conducting a survey on forest acquisition by foreigners and eight cases (totaling 16 hectares) were reported in FY2012.

In Japan, “Japanese cedar (sugi) pollinosis” is acknowledged to be a nationwide problem. The Forestry Agency is promoting the conversion of existing cedar forests to lower-pollen cedar forests, through the development and planting of low-pollen Japanese cedar varieties. The number of low-pollen seedlings grown in 2011 totalled 1.42 million, 16 times more than in 2005.

#### 1.4. People's Participation in Forest Management

In Japan, a wide range of people/companies/organizations have shown a willingness to support forest and forestry from economic, industrial, or cultural perspectives.

The number of organizations who are willing to participate in voluntary forestry activities reached 3,152 in 2011. Also, many private companies are participating in forest management and conservation as a part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.

Many prefectural governments have begun to impose their own taxes with the objective of supporting forest management activities. As of FY2012, 33 of 47 prefectures had introduced forest tax systems, with total income reaching 2.6 billion yen.
#### 1.5. Research and Development

In September 2012, the new “National Research and Development Strategy in Forest, Forestry, and Wood Products Industry” was introduced. Under this strategy, the national government, the Forest and Forest Products Research Institute, and prefectural governments are cooperatively conducting research and development into new technologies to provide solutions for current policy challenges.

The Forestry Agency will develop technical experts, “Foresters,” with considerable knowledge and expertise in forest and forestry. These Foresters are expected to support the policy administration of local governments and on-the-ground forest management activities. The Forestry Agency is temporarily conducting a training course for “Apprentice Foresters,” before the “Forester” certification system is implemented in FY2013.

### 2. Forest Conservation

#### 2.1. Conservation Forests

Under the Forest Law, forests providing particularly important public benefits, including securing water resources and preventing disasters, are designated as “conservation forests.” As of 2011, the total area of conservation forests was 12.05 million hectares, or 48% of the total forest area and 32% of the total land area in Japan. In the “conservation forests,” general forest management is allowed with specific limitations for each type of conservation forest.

#### 2.2. Disaster Control

In July 2011, a heavy rainstorm caused many natural disasters in the mountainous areas in the north Kyushu region. In response to these disasters, the Forestry Agency dispatched technical staff to the damaged areas soon after the disaster to conduct recovery work.

The Forestry Agency also conducts “forest conservation projects” to replant forests and install disaster control facilities to help fulfill the landslide prevention function of forests.

#### 2.3. Conservation of Forest Biodiversity

In September 2012, GOJ adopted the “National Biodiversity Strategy of Japan 2012-2020” as a roadmap to achieve the “Aichi Biodiversity Targets” of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). In implementing the Strategy, the Forestry Agency is promoting appropriate thinning and forest management to conserve diverse forest ecosystems.

The Forestry Agency is also promoting conservation of those forests identified as being “World Heritage” site, including Shirakami, Yakushima, Shirotoko, and the Ogasawara Islands. In January 2012, the GOJ submitted a recommendation to UNESCO to register Mt. Fuji in the World Heritage List.

#### 2.4. Wildlife Control

In FY2011, approximately 9,000 hectares of forests were damaged by wild animals, 60% of which was caused by deer.

For the control of wild animals, comprehensive approaches through “control of wildlife population,”
“prevention of damages” with protective fences, and “proper management of habitats” to grow broad-leaved forests is important.

#### 2.5. Pest Control

In FY2011, the volume of pine trees damaged by the pinewood nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) was 650 thousand m $ ^{3} $ , approximately one-fourth of its peak year of 1979, but such damage is still the worst among all forest pests and diseases in Japan. The Forestry Agency is implementing “preventive measures” through the application of chemicals and “combating measures” through logging and fumigation of affected trees.

In FY2011, the volume of damage to Quercus spp. trees caused by the oak platypodid beetle (Platypus quercivorus) declined to 160,000 m $ ^{3} $ , less than a half of the previous year. The Forestry Agency is combating the beetle through logging and fumigating of damaged trees and the development of preventive measures including the installation of adhesives to capture the beetles.

### 3. International Cooperation

#### 3.1. Sates of World's Forests

As of 2010, the world forest area was 4.03 billion hectares, or 31% of total land area. Between 2000 and 2010, the world's forest area declined by 5.21 million hectares annually. In Africa and South America, 3.00 million hectares of forests were lost annually, while in Asia, the forest area increased by 2.24 million hectares annually.

#### 3.2. Promotion of Sustainable Forest Management

In June 2010, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The outcome document entitled “The Future We Want” reemphasized the importance of sustainable forest management.

Illegal logging substantially hinders the efforts of sustainable forest management. The GOJ is promoting international efforts to combat illegal logging and is implementing a governmental procurement policy under the principle that “illegally harvested timber should not be used.” In 2010, the GOJ also developed a tracking system for wood products in cooperation with the Indonesian Government which is applicable to wood exporting countries.

#### 3.3. Japan's Cooperation

Japan is promoting international cooperation for the promotion of sustainable forest management in developing countries through bilateral and multilateral schemes that include the provision of technical and financial assistance.
# Chapter V Forestry and Rural Mountain Communities

### 1. Forestry

#### 1.1. Value of Forestry Production

The value of gross forestry production has been declining since the peak year in 1980. In 2011, the value of gross forestry production was 416.6 billion yen, a 1% decline from the previous year. Among the value of gross forestry production, wood production accounts for 46%, while mushroom production represents 52%.

In 2011, the volume of sugi production was 9.65 million $ m^{3} $ , a 7% increase from the previous year, while that of hinoki was 2.17 million $ m^{3} $ , a 7% increase. The price of sugi roundwood was 11,400 yen/ $ m^{3} $ , a 7% decline from the previous year, while that of hinoki was 18,500 yen/ $ m^{3} $ , a 15% drop (Fig.5-1).

The stumpage price of timber has declined to the point where the income from harvesting logs is too low to cover the replanting costs.

Fig.5-1: Production volume and roundwood prices of Sugi and Hinoki

#### 1.2. Forest Ownership

In Japan, most private forests are owned by a large number of small scale forest owners. Approximately 90% of forest owners have less than 10 hectares of forest.

Recently, the area of forests whose owners live away from their forests has been increasing and the age of forest owners is also rising.

#### 1.3. Forestry Management Bodies

In Japan, forestry management bodies consist of three categories: forest owners, the Forest Owners' Cooperatives, and private forestry contractors.
Most forest owners depend on income derived from activities other than forestry. Generally, small-scale forest owners are reluctant to engage in forestry practices due to its low profitability. In some regions, groups of small-scale forest owners cooperatively conduct thinning operations and transport the thinned wood to sell to chip mills or woody biomass energy plants.

The Forest Owners' Cooperatives are major forest management bodies, conducting more than half of forestry activities, including planting, weeding, and thinning. As of FY2010, the number of members (forest owners) in Forest Owners' Cooperatives was 1.57 million, which represents two-thirds of Japan's private forest area. However, the number of Forest Owners' Cooperatives has been decreasing because of mergers, falling to 679 in FY2010.

Private forestry contractors are major wood production bodies, conducting approximately 70% of harvesting.

Recently, the share of large-scale forestry management bodies in roundwood production is becoming high.

#### 1.4. Forestry Workforce

The size of the forestry workforce has been declining in the long term, reaching approximately 69,000 in 2010. Although the share of the aged workforce (aged 65 or older) is 18%, the ratio of the young workforce (aged 35 or younger) has begun to rise.

The Forestry Agency has been implementing a “Green Employment Program,” which teaches introductory skills and basic forestry knowledge to the new workers since FY2003. Thanks to the Program, the number of new workers has nearly doubled compared with the period before the Program started (Fig.5-2). In 2011, the Forestry Agency introduced step-by-step system to promote new workers from “forest workers” to “forest managers” or “forest leaders.”

Recently, women have begun to increasingly engage in forestry activities.

Fig.5-2: Number of new entrants to forestry workforce
#### 1.5. Improvement of Forestry Productivity

To improve forestry productivity, the “coordination and consolidation of forestry practices” is very important. Such activities will help to coordinate multiple small forest owners and conduct forestry practices on a larger, more commercial, scale.

The Forestry Agency has been training “Forest Management Planners” since FY2007, to help promote the proposal-based coordination and consolidation of forestry practices. In 2012, the revised “Forest Law” introduced the new “Collective Forest Management Plan System” developed by forest owners or their entrusted forest managers for the sustainable forest management/protection of the collective forest area. The Forestry Agency is implementing the new system with flexibility, listening to the opinions of the on-the-ground forest management.

In Japan, the network of forest roads is underdeveloped. The Forestry Agency is accelerating the development of the forestry road system based on a combination of three types of forest roads: the "forest road" for general vehicles, the "forestry exclusive road" for trucks with ten ton loads, and the "forestry operation road" for forestry machinery. The Forestry Agency is also training technical experts in the planning and construction of forestry road systems.

As of FY2011, there are 5,100 pieces of advanced forestry machinery in Japan, a 9% increase over the previous year. The Forestry Agency is promoting the development and improvement of advanced forestry machines.

To improve the efficiency of forest planting and treatment, new technologies such as growing seedlings in containers, simplification of weeding practices, and planting with fewer seedlings, are being evaluated on an experimental basis.

### 2. Rural Mountain Communities

#### 2.1. Conditions surrounding Rural Mountain Communities

In Japan, rural mountain communities cover 50% of the total land area, or 60% of the total forest area. In these areas, the housing infrastructure is underdeveloped and the population continues to decline and become older. In such areas, the public benefits of forests might be adversely affected due to the lack of proper forest management. Former community forests (“satoyama forests”) are also under threat from invasive weeds and bamboo.

#### 2.2. Revitalization of Rural Mountain Communities

In order to maintain the community function and the vitality of rural mountain communities, the Forestry Agency is promoting effective communication between rural mountain communities and urban areas and is supporting settlement initiatives through the creation of job opportunities in new businesses that utilize forest resources, such as energy generation from woody biomass.

The Forestry Agency is also promoting the “sixth industry” initiative, which seeks to bring together first (agriculture, forestry and fisheries), second (manufacturing), and third (service) industries, through the integration of primary production and its processing/distribution or through the invention of new industrial sectors which utilize local primary resources.
# Chapter VI Wood Demand/Supply and the Wood Products Industry

### 1. Wood Demand and Supply

#### 1.1. World wood demand and supply

The total volume of industrial roundwood consumption in the world is increasing. In 2011, the total volume consumed reached 1.56 billion $ m^{3} $ , a 1% increase from the previous year.

As for the global wood trade, China has increased its imports of industrial roundwood and exports of plywood, while Russia has decreased its exports of industrial roundwood. These two countries have a strong influence on the global trade of wood products.

#### 1.2. Wood demand and supply in Japan

In 2011, the size of the domestic wood supply increased by 6.2%, reaching 19.37 million m $ ^{3} $ (roundwood equivalent), while that of imported wood increased by 2.6%, reaching 53.36 million m $ ^{3} $ (RW eq.). In 2011, Japan's wood demand increased by 4% from the previous year, reaching 72.73 million m $ ^{3} $ (RW eq.), due to the recent increase in new housing starts. As a result the self-sufficiency rate for wood in 2011 was 26.6%, up 0.6% from 2010.

The volume of demand for lumber dropped to one third of the peak year in 1973, due to the long-term decline in the number of domestic housing starts (Fig.6-1). The volume of domestic wood used for plywood production has increased sharply since 2000, although wood demand for plywood production as a whole is on the decline (Fig.6-2). Wood demand for chip and pulp production is also on the decline due to a decrease in paper production.

#### 1.3. Wood prices

The price for domestic roundwood has been declining for a long period. In 2012, the roundwood price of sugi was 11,400 yen/m $ ^{3} $ (900 yen/m $ ^{3} $ less than 2011), that

of hinoki was 18,500 yen/m $ ^{3} $ (3,200 yen/m $ ^{3} $ less), and that of karamatsu was

Fig.6-1: Housing Starts in Japan

Fig.6-2: Supply of wood for plywood production
10,600 yen/m $ ^{3} $ (200 yen/m $ ^{3} $ less). The drop in the hinoki roundwood price was especially dramatic.

The cause of the price decline could be attributed to a “mismatch” in the supply and demand of domestic wood, which has been exacerbated by the lower cost of imported wood because of the strong yen and weak demand for domestic wood after the Great East Japan Earthquake. In response to the price drop, the Forestry Agency has been promoting coordination between demand and supply through a more efficient information exchange while stimulating the wood demand.

The prices of processed products in 2012 were also lower than in 2011 for both domestic and imported wood products.

#### 1.4. Wood from responsible forest management

Illegal logging substantially hinders the efforts of sustainable forest management. The GOJ is encouraging the use of legally or sustainably produced wood based on the “Act on Promotion of Procurement of Eco-Friendly Goods and Services by the State and Other Entities (Act on Promoting Green Purchasing)”.

#### 1.5. Non-wood forest products

Non-wood forest products include mushrooms, wild vegetables, edible nuts, and charcoal. In 2011, the total value of non-wood forest products production was 26.48 billion yen, 90% of which was derived from mushroom production. A number of medicinal herbs for Chinese medicine are also produced as non-wood forest products.

Due to the accident at the TEPCO Fukushima Nuclear Power Stations in March 2011, “shipment restrictions” are imposed on non-wood forest products including mushrooms and wild plant shoots harvested in the affected regions. The roundwood used for mushroom production is also in short supply because of radiation exposure.

### 2. Wood Products Industry

#### 2.1. Sectoral trend of the wood products industry

The gross value of wood products production has been on the decline for a long period, dropping to 1.9 trillion yen in 2010.

As for lumber production, large scale lumber mills are becoming dominant in terms of their share of total lumber production. The share of domestic wood in the raw material inputs for lumber mills is rising, reaching 70% in 2011 (Fig.6-3). The output of kiln-dried lumber is also

Fig.6-3: Material inputs for lumber production
increasing, although the share of KD lumber in total lumber production remains below 30%.

As for glulam production, the volume of production has been increasing since 2010. The share of domestic wood in the material input for domestic glulam mills was 23% in 2011.

As for plywood production, the supply of domestic wood used for plywood production is rapidly increasing, reaching 65% in 2011 (Fig.6-4). However, the share of domestic wood in the total wood demand for plywood production, including imported plywood, was approximately 24% in 2011.

As for wood chip production, the volume of production has been increasing since 2009. The share of domestic wood in the material input for domestic chip mills was 32% in 2011.

Fig.6-4: Material inputs for plywood production

### 3. Promotion of Wood Use

#### 3.1. Housing sector

Approximately 40% of Japan’s wood demand is used for building construction. In particular, the trend of new housing starts of wooden houses significantly influences wood demand as a whole. Recently, major housing companies have begun to use domestic wood more aggressively in their business activities.

The Forestry Agency is promoting local housing projects by supporting cooperation among forest owners, log producers, lumber producers, and local home builders who are willing to use local wood products.

#### 3.2. Wooden public buildings

In October 2010, new legislation to promote wood use in public buildings was enacted. According to the legislation, the Government is promoting wooden structures and wooden interior decorations in public buildings whenever it is possible under the building codes. Further, the governmental ministries and local governments are developing their own policies to increase the use of wood in public buildings. As of March 2013, all 22 governmental ministries, all 47 prefectures, and 1,107 municipalities (out of 1,742) had already developed their wood use policies.

During FY2011, the GOJ constructed 31 low-rise public buildings with a wooden structure, and renovated 257 public buildings with wooden exterior/interiors.

The Forestry Agency and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) are cooperatively promoting wooden school buildings. In 2009, they published a booklet on the points