A comparative study on inheritance of privately owned forest land and measures toward the sustainable management in the aging society declining birth rate

老龄化社会和农村地区出生率下降引起了人们的关注，即私有林地的继承是否会导致森林管理做法的严重恶化。本研究回顾了与森林所有权有关的现有法律的制度，并将日本的经验与欧洲四国的经验进行了比较（法国、德国、芬兰和挪威），在考虑政策措施之前。据观察，日本和欧洲国家曾作出各种努力，以抑制森林破碎化。日本的另一个特点是，现有的所有者越来越有可能出售其在活跃林业中的财产研究报告最后建议采取重点措施，解决这一管理问题。这些措施包括从森林所有者那里收集信息，组织原木联合销售，支持适合当地情况的跨界森林管理机构，以及促进在农村地区定居。

Aging society declining birth rate in rural areas has been raising concerns as to whether the inheritance of privately owned forest lands will lead to a severe deterioration in forest management practices. This research reviewed existing legal systems as they pertain to forest ownership, and compared Japan's experiences to that of four European countries(France,Germany,Finland and Norway),before considering policy measures.It was observed that there had been various attempts to inhibit forest fragmentation in Japan and the European countries.Another Japan's feature was that present owners were increasingly likely to sell their properties in active forestry area.The study concluded by recommending focused measures that should be implemented to address this management issue. These measures include collecting information from forest owners,organizing the joint sale of logs,supporting locally tailored cross-boundary forest management bodies,and promoting settlement in rural areas.