I. Creating a new relationship between "Forest" and "People"

1. Civilized Society and Forest

Throughout the history of mankind, several civilizations have been established by using natural resources. However, there are some cases where a rich forest was devastated or lost in the process of the prosperity and declination of such civilizations.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the area of the world's forests was 3.87 billion hectares in 2000, which accounts for 30% of the land area, excluding Antarctica.
The geographical distribution of the forests is as follows: 27% in Europe, 23% in South America, 17% in Africa, 14% in North and Central America, 14% in Asia and 5% in Oceania. As for recent changes, it is estimated that forests decreased by an average of about 9 million hectares per year during the 1990s.

2. Relationship between Forest and People in Japan

Through a long-standing relationship with forests Japan have been nurturing a "forest-based culture" where people use forests effectively while conserving them, and a "wood-based culture" where people efficiently use the timber produced from forests in various forms, taking advantage of its characteristics.

3. New Relationship between Forest and People

Since the 1950s, socioeconomic conditions have dramatically changed due to high economic growth, and there have been fewer opportunities for the people to come in contact with forests and timber. In addition, mountainous villages and forestry, which have played an important role for nurturing Japan's forests, have been drastically declining.

While the establishment of a sustainable social system will be required for the future, forests have a great potential for coping with this challenge, since they produce timber through solar energy in a sustainable way and provide multiple functions such as carbon sequestration/conservation.

Consequently, it is important for the society as a whole to hand over healthy forests to future generations while establishing a society where forest and people can co-exist and taking another good look at the "forest-based culture" and "wood-based culture," which have been nurtured in Japan, based on the characteristics of forests and timber.

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