Abstract
Technological study and consensus building process were facilitated to support the conservation of rural pine forest and the utilization of slash biomass produced by the activities of a local volunteer group. Specifically, a cruise survey of standing and fallen trees in 13 plots and a cutting survey of the major tree species in the group activity area were performed. The results of the surveys confirmed that (1) 9 species of trees constituted 91% of the standing trees, expressed on the basis of basal area, and (2) the basal area of each tree among these species showed a high correlation with the available tree biomass. In addition, the vegetation in the area was classified into 3 types on the basis of the crown density of the pine trees in each cell of a 20 m grid layer, with overlaying on digital aerial photographs. Thus, the available tree biomass, including the fallen trees of each vegetation type, was estimated to be 155.5-201.9 tDW/ha by conversion of the abovementioned relational expressions from a basal area to the available tree biomass. Subsequently, the total available tree biomass was estimated to be 3065.0 tDW/ha by conversion from the aggregate area of each vegetation type. In a workshop cohosted by researchers and the volunteer group, these results were used for consensus building between the parties, after specific suggestions had been made regarding the target value for maintaining the forest stand on the basis of the practical uses of the biomass.
