Basic Plan for Forests and Forestry (2016).

The Forest and Forestry Basic Act directs Japan’s Forestry Agency (FA) to update its Forest and Forestry Basic Plan every five years. The Forest and Forestry Basic Plan serves as a guideline for the nation’s medium-term forestry policy. This Plan covers the period of 2016-2020. The goals of this Basic Plan for Forests and Forestry (2016) include: Forest resources will be enriched (5.4 billion m3); Domestic timber supply volume will reach 40 million m3 by 2020.
The guiding principles of the Plan include: (1) Industrialization of forestry and resources recycle and reuse; (2) Stable supply system for timber; (3) Strengthening competitiveness of timber industry and creation of new timber demand; (4) Development of forestry and timber industry (5) Countermeasures against global warming and biodiversity conservation. In order to promote measures related to forest and forestry, the forest owners are responsible for the maintenance of forests and business activities, and the role to guide the consumption of forest products for the demonstration of the multifaceted functions of the forests and achieving the goal of the supply and use of forest products.
Specific measures proposed in the Plan for the demonstration of multifaceted functions of forests include: promotion of multi-story forests; Establishment of forest management system and forest environment tax; Reducing the cost of afforestation, securing good seedling, and implementing the logging and afforestation system, promoting appropriate thinning, promoting national land conservation; Conservation of biodiversity, forest improvement by public involvement, and waste land utilization as forest; etc.
Measures for sustainable and healthy development of forestry include: Establishment of desirable forestry structure; Training and securing human resources; Securing and securing human resources and labor safety; etc.
Measures for sustainable and healthy development of forestry include: Establishment of desirable forestry structure; Training and securing human resources; Securing and securing human resources and labor safety.
Measures for securing supply and utilization of forest products include: Increase of timber supply capacity, conversion to desirable stable supply system; Strengthening the competitiveness of timber industry; Development of processing and distribution system, and high value addition of regional materials; Creation of new timber demand by expansion of utilization to public buildings, private housing, civil engineering, etc., utilization of woody biomass, export promotion of timber; etc.