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Market prospects for wood products certified for forest management and/or legality in Japan

University of British Columbia

Japan is one of the world’s major importers of wood products. Most of the wood entering the country is destined to Japan’s house building industry. However, Japan has been an indifferent market regarding demand of wood products certified for sustainable forest management. Current pressures that may indicate a shift in market conditions include: the recent economic recovery, increasing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and the new government’s public purchasing policies (PPP) titled Timber Procurement Policies. In order to assess the market prospect (in the next 5 years) for wood products certified as coming from sustainable and/or legal sources a study was completed focusing on Japanese home builders. Data was collected through a self administered mail survey of residential builders in Japan. Results show that there is a low level of understanding, as well as willingness to adopt, forest management certification among Japanese builders. Consequently, current market demand for certified products is low and builders expect little change in consumers’ demand for wood materials certified for sustainable management as well as those certified for legality in the next five years. Builders considered the most important potential drivers for increased demand for certified and/or legal wood products to be rigorously implemented public purchasing policies, followed by increasing final consumers’ demand and the growth in CSR. Builders also estimated that the positive impact of PPPs would be rather modest but widespread. Finally, builders indicated that PPPs would favour demand for certain product categories, such as: domestic wood, softwoods, wood from plantation and to a lesser degree wood from temperate forests.

Japan

Text

eng

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0066317

Master of Science - MSc

Forestry, Faculty of

2008-05

Graduate

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