Abstract
The forestry industry in Japan is in a long-term decline. Generational changes in ownership have led to a loss of interest in forest management by forest owners. These challenges are exacerbated by additional problems such as uncertain ownership and poorly defined boundaries, and the huge demands of intensive forest management. The Forest Management Act came into effect in April 2019 to address these challenges, and municipalities were required to build a new forest management system (Shinrin keiei kanri seido) based on this Act. The Nichinan-cho Forestry Association of Tottori Prefecture undertook an assessment and recorded the outcomes in the“Report on Forest Owners’Intention Survey Results.”This paper examined the issues associated with the new system, based on the survey. The survey revealed that although forest owners recognized the need for forest management, they tended to avoid such obligations because of the challenges of inheritance, boundary uncertainties, and the economic evaluation of their forests. This trend was particularly strong among absentee forest owners in villages.
