Forest certification is a means to ensure sustainable forest management and serves as a tool for revitalizing local forestry activities. An analysis of the diffusion patterns of forest certification in Japan revealed the current status of forest management and forestry in the country. A series of certification organization hearings (Forest Stewardship Council [FSC] / Sustainable Green Ecosystem Council [SGEC]) were conducted, and correlation analysis between the certification diffusion rates in prefectures and their potentially relevant indicators were performed. Accidental factors such as the existence of leaders, formation of networks of key persons, and accumulation of relevant knowledge were found to be important. The certification diffusion rates were positively correlated with timber production levels/forest management activities, even though the relationship was weak. SGEC certification diffusion rates were found to exhibit a weak positive correlation with the export ratios of sawn timber to other prefectures. Traditionally successful forest regions showed resistance against forest certification. It was also found that the most important agenda for further diffusion of forest certification is to encourage the demand for certified products.

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The Japanese government aims to achieve around 13 million tons of CO_2 sequestration through forest management, and promotes thinning and the use of thinned wood materials in a variety of ways. Recently, businesses utilizing thinned wood as a raw material for paper and paper products have begun to attract attention because they may be able to use thinned small-diameter logs that are of low value owing to the shortage of demand for such logs, and because the utilization of thinned logs would promote thinning. This paper researches the characteristics of paper and paper products made from thinned wood as well as the current situation of markets for such products. We obtained the following results: 1) The most important segment of the market for paper and paper products made from thinned wood is office supply for businesses. 2) Owing to the lack of demand for such products, nationwide sales are necessary. 3) The mixing rates are often 10% owing to cost and technical considerations as well as the content requirement of the thinned wood registration mark program. 4) Manufacturers and distributors of these products are not satisfied with the overall sales trends. They, however, still intend to carry these products for the purpose of advertisement.

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The physical properties of surface soil were investigated by comparing adjacent thinning and control plots in hinoki cypress plantations (TNG, FMY and KUM) in Kochi and Ehime Prefecture, Shikoku Island. The percentage of thinning in TNG, FMY and KUM was 51%, 48% and 33%, respectively. The soil type in TNG and KUM was Black soil while that in FMY was Brown forest soil. Surface soil samples at 0-5cm depth were collected using a 400 mL sample core at 8 or 13 months after thinning. In FMY and KUM, coarse or fine porosity was not significantly different between the control and thinning plots. The surface soil of the thinning plot in TNG had significantly lower coarse porosity and higher fine porosity than that of the control plot (p<0.05). The results suggest that the effect of thinning on the physical properties of soils can vary among three forests. Changes of soil pore composition in TNG may be caused by disturbance of surface soil by extracting under the condition that it had less understory vegetation and the soil is easily eroded due to the lower bulk density of volcanic soils.

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[in Japanese]

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