Forest Management
Thinking about the Future of Forests.
This Means Thinking about the Future of People.
Forests are indispensable to us for a variety of reasons. For instance, they provide us with timber,
help prevent disasters, provide habitats for living creatures, and offer us clean water and comfortable landscapes.
How can we use these irreplaceable resources sustainably while at the same time harnessing their benefits?
We are developing forests with an eye to the next 100 years, centering on Daiei Kankyo Group's company-owned forests in 29 locations across Japan, covering an area of approximately 8,170 hectares.
This project is a symbol of the Daiei Kankyo Group ahead of our centennial anniversary.
For the development of the forestry industry and communities
The forest area throughout Japan that are not being properly managed due to a lack of people to take care of them is increasing. Together with forest owners in Totsukawa Village, Nara Prefecture, where our company-owned forests are located, we established the Forestry Organization in Northern Totsukawa (FONT), which takes care of various administrative procedures required for forestry management on behalf of forest owners, reducing their burden and ensuring transparency of income and expenditure. By aiming to improve the trust and brand value of the timber produced in the region, FONT will continue its proactive activities to become a key player in the future of Japan's forestry.
Forestry Organization
in Northern Totsukawa (FONT)
This organization drafts management and work plans, contracts and places orders with logging and hauling companies and survey-ors, sells and settles accounts for logs, handles administrative pro-cedures such as logging notifications, and applies for various subsi-dies on behalf of forest owners. In addition, it centrally manages data on log sales performance and provides forestry management advice to forest owners. The flow of funds is made open among all parties concerned to ensure transparency of income and expendi-ture.
FONT : Forestry Organization in Northern Totsukawa
Established in February 2020
Forest development starts with human resource developmen
We believe that in order for people to continue to receive the benefits of forests, we need to shift from conventional uniform plantations to forests that are diverse and close to nature, for which foresters (forest management experts) play an essential role. Nara Forester Academy, which opened in 2021, is the first advanced vocational training school in Japan that is dedicated to training foresters. General Agriculture & Forestry participates in the operation of the school in various ways, such as by giving lectures , and supports human resource development in the forestry industry conducted by the regional government.
Forester
Forester, a common qualified occupation in Europe and North America, is experts in local forest management. They may be public servants or belong to forestry organizations.
They advise forest owners and manage forestry operations on behalf of forest owners. As such, this occupation requires a wide range of knowledge and skills to coordinate the various interests involved in forest stewardship.
Nara Forester Academy
Opened in April 2021, this public educational institution run by Nara Prefecture offers a two-year Forester Course and a one-year Forest Worker Course. In cooperation with a forester training school in Switzerland, the school also conducts personnel exchanges, and graduates are employed by municipal offices, forestry cooperatives, forestry entities, and other organizations.
Outreach activities
In addition to providing consulting services for forest administration, we dispatch instructors to forest development courses held by municipalities and organizations throughout Japan. Our areas of expertise include selection work to choose which trees to cut and which to leave when thinning, and training in the communication necessary for forest management. Also, in response to those who are interested in forests and forestry but have had a hard time finding a place to learn about them, in the summer of 2020 we began an online course for the general public called "Learn from the forest." We will continue our steady outreach activities with the hope of increasing the number of forestry enthusiasts.
Forest Development Course
We offer a monthly online course for members of the public, cover-ing everything from forestry terminology to industry trends in an easy-to-understand manner, with the goal of creating a shared level of awareness for all people involved in forests. Due to the success of the 2020-2021 season, a second season (2021-2022) is being held.
Disaster preparedness and biodiversity
Typhoons in 2004 and 2011 caused 10 hectares of landslides in a company-owned forest in Odai Town, Mie Prefecture. Restoration work is being car-ried out through a public works project of Mie Prefecture. Along with performing regular restoration tasks, we are continuing to work with the prefec-ture on the Odai Project, a reforestation project to further improve disaster preparedness and biodiversity functions. Another of our company-owned forests, located in Mimata Town, Miyazaki Prefecture, is a treasure trove of rare plants and southern limit species. From the perspective of biodiversi-ty, we are conducting investigations to conserve these species and their ecosystems.
Odai Project
This project, running from FY2016 to FY2023, aims to cultivate diverse forests by planting a variety of local saplings on collapsed sediment deposits, incorporating the natural distribution method. Under the project, which combines disaster preparedness and bio-diversity with environmental education, Daiei Kankyo Group em-ployees are responsible for seedling production (seed collection and cultivation) and some of the planting.
Company-owned forests nationwide
Company-owned forests belonging to the Daiei Kankyo Group are owned and managed by subsidiary General Agriculture & Forestry. General Agricul-ture & Forestry has been researching the Swiss forestry industry since 2010 as a new business model for forest management. In order to pass on healthy forests over the next 100 years, we are continuing our process of trial-and-error to determine a future vision for our forest management, one that builds upon the Swiss “close-to-nature forestry” that supports both the environment and the economy, and apply it in Japan. Together with our supporters in Japan and abroad, we are thinking about the future of forests and people.
Thinking of selling your forested land?
General Agriculture & Forestry welcomes consultations regarding the sale of forested land under private ownership. Unlike real estate appraisals of residential land or land for development, valuations of forests require knowledge and experience in forestry techniques and forest management. General Agriculture & Forestry's professional staff can calculate the objective value of forests based on desk research and on-site surveys. Please feel free to contact us for more information.
