Niche Markets for Economic Revitalisation of Satoyama Forest ...

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Executive Summary Japan, a chain of islands with a national population of about 127.5 million (July 2007 est.) and total area of 377,835 square kilometers, has only about 12 per cent arable land. Due to its geographical coordinates in Asia (36.00 N, 138.00 E), Japan has historically experienced extreme climatic conditions which include earthquakes, torrential rainfall, floods, windstorms, and heat–waves. To survive these types of harsh conditions and produce enough food for the population, the Japanese people had to find innovative ways by which to maximise land use and conserve the quantity as well as the quality of available land, forest resources, water, wetlands, and built–up infrastructure. In the 18th and 19th centuries, long before Japan became one of the most industrialised nations in the world, part of the innovation involved a careful and integrated use, maintenance and management of scarce community– based ecosystem resources which supported human well–being in both rural and urban communities. The generic Japanese term for the centuries–old practices which ensured a sustainable coexistence of people and nature is satoyama. After World War II, as Japan’s industrialisation and urbanisation processes intensified, an unprecedented rural–urban population migration occurred, the proportion of the population which lived in rural areas fell from 82 per cent in 1920 to about 21 per cent in the year 2000. Similarly, the proportion of the population actively engaged in agriculture fell from about 52 per cent in 1920 to about 6 per cent in 1977. One of the ramifications of these and other major transitions was that most satoyama ecosystem resources became underutilised or simply abandoned, leading to the degradation of biodiversity, loss of some of the ecosystem services, and decline or loss of economic value to the local communities. The last fifteen years has witnessed a renewed interest across Japan among scientists, policy makers, business community, and environmental activists in reviving the satoyama sector to harness its potential economic contributions. Since the publication of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) report in 2005, scholars have shown a strong interest in examining more closely the types of ecosystem services which the satoyama sector provided, the factors that led to the economic decline and current uncertainty of the sector, the multiscale issues facing the sector now, and what needs to be done to revitalise it. These objectives have become even more pressing now as the world seeks to address a global energy crisis by taking effective actions at the local level. This paper examines the satoyama forest resources in Ishikawa Prefecture of Japan, identifies and discusses some of the emerging niche markets taking advantage of some of the ecosystem services, stakeholders leading these initiatives, and the policy environment across the scales (prefectural, national, and Asia regional) which has hurt or helped the ecosystem services being examined. The Introduction section reviews a conceptual problem of satoyama in general, drawing from various perspectives in the literature and proposing a working definition. This section also presents a general profile of the forest resources in Ishikawa Prefecture and the satoyama forest resources within that context, and some of the recent developments in the sector. The first chapter identifies the various niche markets—essentially, initiatives led by private sector stakeholders aimed at utilising satoyama forest resources in a sustainable manner within the Ishikawa Prefecture. The paper examines four potential niche markets through which the satoyama forest sector could be revitalised in the prefecture. 3
The first refers to the current and potential wood supply in Ishikawa Prefecture in relation to the overall wood market in Japan, including the demand for wooden homes as well as the potential commercialisation of the wood block production to support construction in the housing sector. The second potential niche market examined is the commercialisation of bio–energy, in particular the generation of power from woody biomass gasification and biomass energy supply. The third niche market potential examined is carbon market enhancement, or the financing of management projects through carbon markets. Fourth but not the least potential niche market for the satoyama forest sector in Ishikawa Prefecture is ecotourism, green tourism, or furusato or recreational activities that satisfy people’s nostalgia for interaction with nature. The paper identifies and evaluates some of the opportunities related to these niche markets across different scales. The second chapter of the paper identifies and discusses existing and emerging challenges facing the economic viability of the various niche products and services discussed in the first chapter. These include the issues of costs associated with wood harvesting, collection, processing and distribution in Japanese relative to the costs of imported wood of comparable quality, equipment costs, and technical challenges associated with carbon measurement, natural/accidental deforestation, access to benefit sharing, and equitable participation in related local economic opportunities by stakeholders. The third chapter examines policy responses across the scales to address the challenges identified in chapter two, including local, prefectural, and national policies related to satoyama forests in general, and activities such as forest thinnings, wood block technology, new energy products, and carbon trading. These policy responses indicate the support, or the lack thereof, of the different levels of governance in Japan toward the economic revitalisation of satoyama forest resources in Ishikawa Prefecture as well as across the country. The last chapter draws conclusions from the discussions and analyses, and points to possible policy interventions or adjustments that could create economic incentives for stakeholders and encourage investment in the satoyama forest sector. 4
Page 1 and 2: Niche Markets for Economic Revitali
Page 3 and 4: IICRC Report Niche Markets for Econ
Page 5 and 6: CONCLUSION 25 ENDNOTES 26 REFERENCE
Page 7: Foreword Satoyama has always provid
Page 11 and 12: a) Working Definition Working Defin
Page 13 and 14: 1 EMERGING NICHE MARKETS FOR SATOYA
Page 15 and 16: 1.2 Commercialisation of Wood Block
Page 17 and 18: • Realising stable power generati
Page 19 and 20: In Japan, the priorities have been
Page 21 and 22: 2.3 Challenges Relating to Carbon M
Page 23 and 24: nature, satoyama should be accorded
Page 25 and 26: the public (Forestry Agency edition
Page 27 and 28: Figure 11: Price by Year Comparison
Page 29 and 30: such technological innovation in th
Page 31 and 32: ENDNOTES 1. In recent years, the im
Page 33 and 34: emovals of forests are under develo
Page 35 and 36: Nature Conservation Bureau, Ministr

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