JCP holds series of talks with forest owner’s cooperatives

Japan Press Weekly

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JCP holds series of talks with forest owner’s cooperatives

The Japanese Communist Party is holding talks with local forest owner’s cooperative associations with the aim to revitalize forestry.

On February 15, representatives of the JCP Tottori Prefectural Committee met with executives of the prefectural federation of forest owner’s cooperative associations.

In the meeting, citing JCP Chair Shii’s speech at the annual general meeting of the National Federation of Forest Owner’s Cooperative Associations (Zenmoriren), the federation chair said that the JCP’s view on the forest industry is the same as the cooperative’s and that maintenance of mountains contributes to the public interest although it is hard to make enough money to live on in the industry.

As for their demands, he said that the national and local governments should continuously provide support for developing forestry infrastructure and the thinning of trees, strengthen support for creating job opportunities, and take serious measures to promote the use of local timber for public works projects and at public facilities.

JCP member of the House of Councilors Kami Tomoko on February 16 held a meeting with Tokyo Forestry Union executives and visited a wood processing factory and a tree thinning site.

Kami in her address said, “I want to introduce your troubles and the actual state of the forest industry for deliberation in the Diet.”

The Tokyo Forestry Union head expressed his appreciation for JCP Chair Shii’s speech at the Zenmoriren’s annual conference and explained that their task is to establish a way to operate the forest industry in accordance with actual conditions because in Tokyo, for example, forest area per owner is smaller than that of a Hokkaido owner’s.

As the only forest owner’s organization in Tokyo, the Tokyo Forestry Union undertakes tree thinning and deforestation projects commissioned by the Tokyo Metropolitan government.

Another union executive said that although the union received a Tokyo government subsidy for the project, owner’s income is small because the price for wood is low and the production cost is higher than other areas.

- Akahata, February 17, 2010