Forestry and Wood Industry

Abstract

Excessively rapid socioeconomic changes in Japan have disrupted national policies related to the management of biomass resources. During the twentieth century, the Japanese forestry and wood industry transformed from producing wood for fuel to wood for construction to support national reconstruction in the postwar era. During this period, conifers were planted on most mountains. However, by the time sufficient conifer forests had grown to supply wood for construction, demand had declined because of the growth in imports. In the meantime, energy security and reduction of carbon emissions have become important issues, leading to the establishment of the “Biomass Nippon Strategy (2002)” and “Feed-in Tariff (FIT) Scheme for Renewable Energy (2012),” which have redirected interest back to the use of woody biomass for energy. However, the age class composition of wood resources in the forests is imbalanced because of the aforementioned transformation. Sustainable forest resource use demands a balanced structure and full use based on efficient collection of wood biomass generated in the supply chain, i.e., from forest to sawmill. It also demands the use of the best available technologies while maintaining other functions such as environmental conservation and watershed protection. In this study, we propose a road map to facilitate development of a sustainable forestry and wood industry that could satisfy demands for energy and construction.