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Report
No.230901 |
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- Domestic - |
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White Paper Calls for Urgent Forest Management and Conservation The Forestry Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) published the white paper, FY 2005 'Annual Report on the Trend of Forest and Forestry,' on April 18. The report presents the trends of forest and forestry as well as policy measures implemented during the fiscal year. The white paper at this time is presented under the main theme 'forest supported by all the people' in light of the urgent necessity of forest management and conservation. It tells of an increasing number of prefectures introducing 'environment tax for forest.' The paper calls on the general public to extend broad cooperation to the revitalization of forest through positive use of locally available lumbers and participation in and support to forestation. Forest management is increasing its importance as forest is given a major recognition by the 'Kyoto Protocol,' a convention to prevent global warming, for its role in absorbing CO2. Meanwhile, it has become difficult to revitalize forest by people in the wood industry only due to aging of population in mountainous areas and stagnant lumber prices. So the white paper points out "the necessity of gaining support from the society at large." By way of illustrating concrete approaches with which the general public could support the forest, the paper points out the moves of prefecture governments to introduce a tax for the purpose of forest management, assessed independently from the national government tax. Starting in 2003, a total of eight prefectures introduced an 'environment tax for forest' by the end of 2005. These moves are being followed by eight other prefectures which have decided to introduce such a tax from the fiscal year 2006 onward, thus, doubling the number of prefectures to make such taxation. In general, tax for forest management is stipulated in prefecture ordinance and an annual charge of some 500 yen is added on to prefecture inhabitant's tax in case of individual tax payers. Most ordinance would point out that prefecture people benefit from public service which the forest provide in such a form as preventing disaster of land slides. They point out that the tax has a purpose also of nurturing consciousness among the people of protecting and tending the forest, beyond simply to manage it. The white paper puts forward three suggestions on "What the people could do, now?" to help revitalize the forest: i) that consumers and business make conscious use of the local lumbers; ii) that people make direct voluntary participation in forestation through such works as weeding and thinning; iii) that they support forestation activities from financial aspect such as making contribution to 'Green Fund.' Conscious use of local lumbers will expand demand and generate forest management cycle of logging → planting → tending. The white paper says "it is important that the people - wood industry people, consumers and businesses - cooperate among themselves to steadily implement what they can, now," including participation in and giving support to forestation. |
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