Japan should use more domestically produced wood to help build a recycling-oriented system to utilize forest resources and revive the faltering forestry industry, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said Tuesday in an annual report on forestry.
The fiscal 2005 report noted that despite strong expectations on forests as a means to prevent natural disasters and preserve the nation's ecosystem, forestry resources have become degraded due in part to lack of labor force and an insufficient thinning of the forests in various parts of the country.
The average price of domestically grown cedar in 2005 dropped sharply to a sixth what it was in 1980, pulled down mainly by the rapid influx of foreign lumber.
This in turn has made it hard for forestry businesses to keep operating and preserve forestry resources, the report said.
To remedy the situation, the report stressed the need to build a system to recycle forest resources so that more domestic wood can be used for houses and furniture.
It also urged more volunteers to participate in efforts to conserve forestry resources.
Other policy goals the report cited are fostering forests with a view to achieving Japan's targets under the Kyoto Protocol to cut carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions and implementing ways of tackling hay fever caused by Japanese cedar pollen, which experts say has become a national affliction.Kyodo News via Yahoo Asia
