Japan's Monoculture Forests In Trouble - Asahi

[hatrack]

This is the first installment of a series of interviews with foreign experts and others on current issues; the interviews will be published every Monday. The diversity of Japan's forests has been devastated by greed and bureaucratic incompetence, says outspoken environmentalist C.W. Nicol, 64. Fascinated by this nation's natural beauty, he settled in 1980 in the mountains of Nagano Prefecture, where he purchased land to reforest. Nicol, who became a naturalized citizen in 1995, calls on the Japanese to exert every effort to recreate mixed forests, as was done in his homeland, Britain's south Wales.

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Q:What is happening to Japan's forests?

A:The Japanese forests are very sickly-they're not vigorous anymore. With an untended plantation of conifers, it's very dark and you get very few species underneath the woods, and the trees stop growing. You get serious erosion because the soil is not sucking up the water, and you get landslides. A whole forest will slide down a mountain. You know the wild pines are almost gone in Japan because of various factors, pollution and lack of care. Now we have other trees dying off, like the mizunara, a species of oak. They're dying off because they're sickly, more easily infested by insects that previously were farther down south, but with global warming those insects, and the diseases they carry, are moving up north.

Q:When did the devastation of forests start?

A:I've seen Japan's forests since 1962, and I always thought that of all of the developed countries, Japan was doing the best job of preservation. But in 1980, I saw that the Forestry Agency in particular was cutting the last virgin forests. The truth is, the Forestry Agency really went on a rampage just after the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, when money became the goal. The Forestry Agency followed the German example of forestry by replacing natural growth forests with quickly growing, easily milled conifers, such as cedars and larches.

Although more than 60 percent of Japan is covered by trees, the virgin forests account for only 2 percent or less. One of the main reasons for this was that the Forestry Agency was so centralized and they made decisions in Tokyo. And instead of forest workers, many of whom had retired or were fired, you had bureaucrats in black shoes and neckties, who don't take any responsibility, and who change every two or three years. That doesn't work."

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Long, interesting interview at:

http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200504040081.html

[JohnyCanuck]

1. Scientist says monoculture plantation forest model not working

Multiple Use of Forests

Dr. Erkki Lähde, Finland’s foremost forestry scientist, is convinced that forests can no longer be divided into those focussing on timber production and others with multiple uses. Instead, all commercial forests, in Finland and elsewhere on our planet, should be treated with their multiple uses in mind, in order to sustain their ecology and biodiversity in a ‘close-to-nature’ state. Merely safeguarding the productivity of timber and pulp – in monoculture plantations - while preserving ‘key biotopes’ in their natural state is no longer considered sufficient for species conservation.

I met Dr. Erkki Lähde very briefly while on a hectic lecture tour in Finland in November-December 2004 as guest of Finland’s People’s Biosafety Association, and immediately recognized the profound significance of his work.

The emphasis on multiple uses of commercial forests is particularly important for many indigenous peoples who have been an integral part of forest ecosystems for millennium; whose livelihoods are being threatened by deforestation, which includes replacing native forests with monoculture tree plantations.

Monoculture tree plantations are anathema to the biodiverse native forest ecosystems of the world. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimated that about 60 percent, and possibly closer to 90 percent of all living species are found in tropical forests. Thus, adopting multiple uses of forests that can sustain their biodiversity is extremely significant for conserving the earth’s species; and there has been a growing trend towards doing just that, though not quite fast enough.

More at: http://www.i-sis.org.uk/MUOF.php