2014 Volume 60 Issue 3 Pages 13-24
This study examines how forest owners associations have coped with the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. These associations, which play an important role in forest improvement, have faced significant problems in the reconstruction of the forestry industry in Fukushima Prefecture after the nuclear disaster. The study describes the actual status of management in 6 forest owners associations damaged by the nuclear disaster. The results can be summarized as follows: (1) when exclusive zones expanded into the area of an association, its office had to be moved and its members, executives, and workers evacuated for an extended period; (2) the main income source of the cooperatives shifted from forest improvement projects to earthquake disaster reconstruction projects such as radioactive decontamination; and (3) a final deficit for the associations was avoided because of the indemnity from the Tokyo Electric Power Company. Although these forest owners associations have attempted to reconstruct their management by launching earthquake disaster reconstruction projects as a key function of local forest management, the associations whose areas included exclusive zones and those suffering from serious radioactive contamination are still finding it difficult to return to their primary business.
