Mexican forest group certifies management of Kochi woods
Copyright 2000 Kyodo News Service,
Japan Economic Newswire
October 30, 2000, Monday
A Mexico-based environmental organization has certified as 'well-managed' two lumber producers that run a forest in Kochi Prefecture, Kochi Gov. Daijiro Hashimoto said Monday.
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) cited the Yusuhara Forest Owners' Cooperative based in the town of Yusuhara and sawmill owner Ikegawa Mokusai Kogyo Co., which administer the 2,300-hectare forest in western Japan. The FSC said they adhere to strict environmental and socioeconomic standards in making wood products.
The Shimanto River, touted as Japan's clearest, runs through the woodland, which became the second FSC-certified forest in Japan following one in the administrative zone of the town of Miyama, Mie Prefecture, also western Japan.
The council, which was founded in 1993 as a nonprofit group and has more than 400 forestry-related member organizations in the world, has certified a total of 18 million hectares of woods in 34 countries, including timber in Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Ukraine.
Hashimoto announced the certifications, which were issued June 15 and Oct. 1, after the prefectural government received them last week, Kochi forestry officials said.