Publication - 1 April, 2002
Throughout its period of high economic growth, Japan has been the largest consumer of timber in the international market. The impact of Japanese demand on the world's ancient forests has been enormous. As the evidence in this report shows, even with the recent economic recession and the decline in the domestic demand for timber, Japan still remains a dominant partner in ancient forest crimes, fueling illegal and destructive logging and trade.
Download document
Executive summary: Throughout its period of high economic growth, Japan has been the largest consumer of timber in the international market. The impact of Japanese demand on the world´s ancient forests has been enormous. As the evidence in this report shows, even with the recent economic recession and the decline in the domestic demand for timber, Japan still remains a dominant partner in ancient forest crimes, fuelling illegal and destructive logging and trade. This research report reveals the many 'chains of destruction' in which Japan is involved. These chains lead from the world's last remaining ancient forests - in Asia Pacific, Asian Russia, the Amazon, Central Africa and South America – and end up in Japan, as the world's major importer of wood and wood products. Some of the links identified by this report are specific, involving companies such as Concord Pacific, Rimbunan Hijau, Asia Pulp and Paper, Société Forestière Hazim, DLH Nordisk and Eidai do Brasil Madeiras, which are implicated in illegal and destructive logging and trade. Some involve trade in threatened species such as ramin, Korean pine and Brazilian mahogany. Greenpeace estimates that around 40% or more of the total plywood supply in Japan is of illegal origin. Moreover, it appears highly likely that the Japanese public sector is implicated in forest crime through the use of timber from illegal and destructive sources in public projects. Illegal logging not only threatens the world´s last remaining ancient forests, but impedes global efforts to achieve sustainable forest management. It also destabilizes the international wood market by undermining the market value of products. Realizing these problems, world governments have established various international agreements and action programmes, most importantly the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. However, they have failed to translate words into actions, and ancient forest destruction still continues. Despite its own recognition of responsibility and despite promises made at various international and national meetings, the Japanese government has so far failed to take any measures to regulate imports and continues to allow a huge influx of cheap, destructively logged timber. Much of the ancient forest wood being imported into Japan ends up as disposable products – glossy magazines, karaoke books, photocopying paper, and plywood frames for concrete casting which are used once, then thrown away. For many of these products Japan's own plantation forestry could supply the demand, instead of the rare and often threatened species which are currently put to such wasteful use. Yet the government is failing to manage its domestic forestry properly, and thus neglecting this alternative, sustainably managed source. The success of the 2001 international market campaign to save the Great Bear Rainforest in Canada has proved that companies who buy or consume timber can play a significant role in the fight against illegal and destructive logging, by excluding products from unsustainable sources. However, as this report and a March 2001 report by Greenpeace Japan on the Great Bear Rainforest make clear, the vastness and complexity of this issue necessitate the Japanese government's prompt intervention. In April 2002, ten years after the Rio Earth Summit, the 'Ancient Forest Summit' will be held at The Hague. At this summit of world governments a ten-year plan for the planet's ancient forests will be decided – a plan which will determine the fate of these forests and of their biodiversity. Greenpeace is demanding that governments seize this opportunity to save the last remaining ancient forests, by:
• establishing Moratoria on industrial logging in intact ancient forests,
• implementing Measures to halt ancient forest degradation and loss, and
• providing Money – at least US$1.5billion – to establish a global Ancient Forest Fund.
The Japanese government should take the initiative now and live up to its promises to stop the destruction, clean up the timber trade and fund the protection of ancient forests. Japanese companies and consumers can exert pressure on the government to take these steps. At the same time, companies can themselves play a vital role in protecting ancient forests by switching to the use of alternative wood and wood products, such as those certified to Forest Stewardship Council™ standards or sourced from domestic plantations.
Num. pages: 37