Profitability of hardwood harvesting in coppice forests of Tochigi Prefecture, Japan
No hay miniatura disponible
Fecha
Autores
Título de la revista
ISSN de la revista
Título del volumen
Editor
FAO ;
Resumen
Descripción
Two entities producing bed logs for Siitake mushroom, charcoal, firewood, and wood chip in coppice forests of Tochigi prefecture were investigated. After the Great East Japan Earthquake, immediate criteria (maximum values of radioactive cesium) were established. Then, preliminary and main survey should be conducted before harvesting bed logs. Therefore, it was more and more difficult to find appropriate forests for bed log production year by year according to the survey and the aging coppice forests. Moreover, stand and terrain conditions of appropriate forests would be more and more severe than before. Charcoal were mainly produced from small-diameter logs which could not be used for bed logs and charcoal production were declined according to the decreasing bed log production in Tochigi prefecture. Recently, charcoal producers themselves harvested charcoal logs and produced charcoal for tea ceremony with high values. Therefore, business of charcoal production has been stable and charcoal production has been increasing. Firewood production has been increasing according to the increased pizza kilns and wood-burning stoves. The business entity of which main shipping item was firewood introduced a new medium-sized wood splitter made in Finland and firewood production has been increasing. Although hardwood occupied 85% of production for the entity, the entity started to establish forest management plans of conifer plantation forests contracted with forest owners and produce chip logs for woody biomass power generation plants. Since both two entities had profits from hardwood production, they conducted trials to convert clear felled conifer plantation forests to broadleaved forests.
Keywords: Economic Development, Sustainable forest management, Value chain, Decent employment, Adaptive and integrated management
ID: 3471133