Comparative study of forestry in Japan and US

这个项目有两个目标。一是厘清近年来北美“树农”式林业与“木材采矿式”林业的状况，并考察其向日本出口木材的能力。二是分析了我国林产品与北美进口林产品的竞争情况。我们明确了以下五点。1.北美林业正处于从木材开采向林木种植过渡的时期。来自老生长林的木材产量正在减少，而来自次生林的木材产量正在增加。这导致了不同地区生产商之间的激烈竞争，并扩大了对日本的木材出口。2.由于环境运动的影响，老森林的收成急剧下降，公益林的产量受到一定的限制。这使得木材和纤维行业具有很大的市场力量。1985年以来，日元升值有力地促进了木材和纤维的进口，从原料转向产品，如今日本的林产品自给率仅为25%。4.同时，强势日元也促进了日本企业的海外经济活动。北美公司的并购以及日本纸浆和造纸公司在发展中国家的重新造林做法就是例子。一些木材生产和销售公司也开始在国外投资。5.进口木材、国产锯材、国产木材在建筑木材市场上竞争激烈。在这种情况下，国内林业正在萎缩，因此迫切需要有足够的森林资源管理系统。

This project had two objectives. One was to clarify the situation of "tree farming" styled forestry to compare with "timber mining" styled forestry in recent North America, and to examine its capability of exporting timber to Japan. The other was to analyze the competition between our domestic forest products and imported ones from North America. We made the following five points clear. 1. North American forestry is in transition period from timber mining to tree farming. Timber production from old growth forests is decreasing and that from second growth forests is increasing. This results in keen competition between producers in different regions and expansion of timber export to Japan. 2. Harvest from old growth forests is sharply declined by the power of environmental movement, and the production from public forests is under some restrictions. This makes wood and fiber industry have large market power.3. An appreciation of yen since 1985 strongly promoted the import of wood and fiber, shifting from materials to products, and self-sufficient rate of forest products became only 25% in Japan today. 4. At the same time, strong yen also promoted overseas economic activity of Japanese companies. M & A of North American companies and reforestation practices in developing countries by Japanese pulp and paper companies were the examples. Some of the timber production and sales companies also began to invest in foreign countries. 5. Imported timber, domestic-sawn timber, and domestic timber compete one another fiercely in construction timber market. Domestic forestry is shrinking under this situation, therefore adequate forest resource management system is critically required.