The Kyoto Protocol and the Private Forest Policy of Local Governments in Japan

National government policies on preventing global warming are becoming increasingly important in Japan, especially since the Kyoto Protocol became effective in 2005, and the first commitment period began in 2008. The Forestry Agency has combined policies promoting domestic forestry with those to prevent global warming and has developed a 10-year action plan. However, the forest resource database and related statistics represent serious problems in the forest management system in Japan and in the administrative work of the prefectural governments that manage the database. The database contains much incorrect data, which is difficult to correct because of insufficient budget and staff. The budget problem has seriously affected the entire administrative section of the Forestry Agency since the 1990s. Environmental taxes related to forests have recently been introduced in many prefectures, although the total revenue generated is small. The basic problem with the database is that the National Land Survey is incomplete and, consequently, the forest land size information in the database is unreliable. Furthermore, because prefectural governments are not required to report statistics on timber harvests, the cutting volume in each municipality is uncertain. Considering this situation, it may be difficult for the private forest sector to contribute greatly to the Kyoto Protocol without changes in the forest management system by both national and prefectural governments.