Japan's Traditional Wooden Homes Trashing the World's Forests

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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

http://forests.org/ -- Forest Conservation Archives

http://forests.org/web/ -- Discuss Forest Conservation

6/16/99

OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by EE

There has not been much material to network recently regarding Japan's

complicity in the dismantling of the World's ancient forests. The

following item relates information on a new Japanese environmental

campaign to address the Japanese construction industries' wastage of

forest timbers. The rebuilding of Japanese houses, many of which are

only built to last 20-25 years, is a major market driving ancient

forest logging in the Philippines, Russia, Malaysia, Australia,

Canada, the U.S., Papua New Guinea, and Equatorial Africa.

g.b.

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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

Title: Are Japan's Traditional Wooden Homes Trashing the World's

Forests?

Source: Environment News Service, http://ens.lycos.com/

Date: June 9, 1999

TOKYO, Japan, June 9, 1999 (ENS) - In Japan, houses last between 22

and 25 years. After that, they are torn down and re-built. Friends of

the Earth-Japan says this "scrap and build housing policy" has led to

the clearcutting of forests worldwide.

The conservation group has started an eco-housing campaign to tackle

what it calls "Japan's wasteful use of timber in housing

construction." The campaign will try to convince Japanese consumers of

the value of long-lasting houses made of domestically produced timber.

"We hope to show to the public the many lifestyle and ecological

benefits of having a long lasting and energy and wood efficient house.

We plan to create a new trend among the consumers in Japan for this

type of home. Japan is ready for this, we believe," says Hiroki

Sugaya, coordinator of the eco-housing project.

In November 1998, the Construction Ministry figures show that Japan's

housing starts fell 12.9 percent in October from October 1997, the

22nd year-over-year decline in a row. Still, says Friends of the

Earth, Japan had over 1.3 housing starts in 1998, "an astronomical

figure given the size of the population."

The forests of the world are suffering because of Japan's scrap and

build housing policy, the group warns. Japan's timber consumption has

been a driving force behind over-logging of forests in the

Philippines, Russia, Malaysia, Australia, Canada, the U.S., Papua New

Guinea, and Equatorial Africa, Friends of the Earth-Japan

(FoE-Japan) says.

Josh Newell, coordinator of FoE-Japan's Siberia Forest Hotspot Project

says, "We are particularly concerned about Japanese consumption of

Siberian timber. Russia's is now Japan's largest source of raw logs,

with imports in 1998 reaching five million cubic metres. Over 80

percent of imported Russian timber is used in housing construction."

"Japan will continue to increase imports of Siberian timber as

restrictions limit raw log exports from traditional softwood sources

such as the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The Japanese plywood industry is

also switching from tropical luan timber to Russian larch as the

primary wood used in plywood construction," says Newell.

For the eco-housing campaign, FoE-Japan has teamed up with OM Solar

Association, a group of architects who specialize in production of

durable, solar-powered houses that use domestic timber and alternative

building materials.

The first year of the campaign will focus on preparing a booklet

highlighting advantages of this housing style. A seminar at an OM

solar house in Tokyo is planned for government officials, media,

housing company representatives, and non-governmental organizations.

The eco-housing campaign will work closely with the media,

particularly television, to reach a wide public audience. Key allies

in the campaign will include the domestic timber industry, consumer's

unions, NGOs, and researchers.

The campaign will take on the issue of reduction of tariffs on wood

products now being discussed in the World Trade Organization and APEC.

Environmentalists fear that reduction of tariffs on wood will make the

Japanese timber industry unable to compete with inexpensive timber

imported from abroad. This could lead to an increase in Japan's

consumption of the world's diminishing forest resources.

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