Abstract
The purpose of this study is to reveal the common issues for achieving sustainable forest management in Japan by analyzing "Corrective Action Requests(CARs)" raised in the main certification public reports of the 24 Japanese forests with FSC certification. A total of 218 CARs were raised in the main assessments. 42% of CARs were raised to cover systematic issue, such as developing the long-term management plan and monitoring. 35% affect the environmental sector and key issue was the create buffer zone adjacent to stream.13% were the social CARs where the improvement of forest workers' safety was required. The economic CARs account for 10% required to achieve sustainable yield level. The analysis of the effectiveness was done on the basis of the 20 forests where verification by the annual audit was available. The sum of CARs in the latest annual audit reports was about one-third of that in the main assessment reports, which reveals that FSC certification improved the forests management of these forests. In addition, the result of this study indicated the necessary to adjust the FSC principles and criteria to the reality of Japanese forestry.
