Tohoku Journal of Forest Science

In an effort to aid in the conservation of Machilus thunbergii forests at its northern limit, the stucture of a mature M. thunbergii stand and two surrounding pine forests invaded by M. thunbergii were investigated on Tobishima Island, northeastern Japan. There were few saplings (height≧1.3m, DBH<5cm) in the mature stand. By contrast, there were many (700-2400/ha) saplings, of a continuous size distribution, in the pine stands. There were also many adult trees (DBH≧5cm) in these stands, some reaching canopy level. These results suggest that pine will be succeeded by M. thunbergii as the dominant species in such stands.

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The forest area of the Russian Ear East is about 275 miillion spuare kilo meters, over seven times larger than the total land mass of Japan. This figure is immense, but the forest resouce is not limitless. Japan imported almost 9 million cubic meters of timber annually from this region in the mid 1970's. This volume dropped to just 4 million cubic meters in the early 1990's but rose again to over 5 million cubic meters in 1994. Forests are managed very wastefully in the Russian Far East. Clearcutting is extensive and only the best part of the stem is harvested. Timber exports traditionally account for 20 to 25% of total forest production, but this percentage is increasing. Japan and China import 70% of all timber exported from Russian Far East. The timber species shipped into Sakata from Russia have changed a great deal in the last 18 years. The volume of Pinus koraiensis decreasted rapidly in the late 1970's and reached a very low level in the early 1990's. Pulp wood imports increased rapidly in the mid 1980's as did the volume of Pinus sylvestris in the early 1990's. These changes were due to the exploitation of the forest resouce in the Russian Far East. Deforestation is a major menace to the area's native population. Japan, which is the largest importer of wood products in the world, has a responsibility to ensure the sustainability of Russian forestry.

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This paper is an examination of the influence of the declaration of Shirakami-sanchi as a World Heritage National Resource on the lumber industry, and on local sawmills using Japanese beech (Fagus crenata) in particular. This paper reports on analysis made through observing the actual condition of these sawmills. 1. As a result of inscription of Shirakami-sanchi in the list of World Heritage Sites the harvesting of Japanese beech has been declining, with a resultant tightening of the supply and demand situation. 2. Due to difficulties in obtaining supplies of beech logs there is a growing tendency for many sawmillers to stop processing beech material for several years. 3. From the above facts we mayconclude that the decrease in availability of beech logs will have negative influence on sustainable forest management in this region.

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