**3. Case studies**

166 Sustainable Forest Management – Case Studies

domestic price for logs, it is difficult for many cooperatives to make money from thinning. Thus, the income from cutting is almost zero in many cooperatives. In addition, there are costs to maintain the organization, including taxes12, which many cooperatives have

The second problem is related to cooperative member labor. In a forest producer cooperative, it is ideal for forest practices to be conducted by the cooperative members themselves. Indeed, one common rule of cooperatives is that more than half of the members must engage in forest management. However, these principles are difficult to realize under the present circumstances. For one, the demographic composition of communities has changed since modernization took place. When the Act was enacted, there was an outflow of the rural population in almost all mountainous communities, and this trend continues today. In addition, the average age in these populations has increased considerably. As a result, some mountainous settlements have been forced to close, and the sustainability of associated cooperatives has become questionable. Problems related to ageing of the population are common throughout Japan. Due to the increasing population of elderly persons, the number of cooperative members that can engage in forest practice has been decreasing. It may be possible for aged members to planting trees or weed, which was the main work in 1960s and 1970s, but it is impossible for them to conduct thinning of 30- or 40-year-old coniferous trees. Hence, there is currently an extreme

The third problem is a lack of organizational management. Many forest producer cooperatives are founded on administrative advice based on the national and prefectural forestry policies, including modernization policy for common forest rights, planting promotion policy for coniferous trees, and policy on profit-sharing forest. The percentage of planted forest increased to approximately 50% in fiscal year 2009, which seems to indicate that the planting program was a success. However, there seem to be no forest management practices being undertaken, such as improved cutting and thinning, after tree planting is finished, and any practices that are undertaken tend to be performed just after planting. As a result, forestry engineers were not included in the cooperatives15. In some cases, the executive of the cooperative was determined by rotation, and the members had no experience in, or concern with, forestry. There are almost no forestry technicians, managers, or other staff, and most cooperatives have never created a specific forest-management plan. Without a long-term forest-management plan, cooperatives are unable to conduct appropriate forest practices or construct road systems, and without an appropriate forest

These three problems are complicated, and correlated. The aging of cooperative members is occurring before many planted forests reach the final cutting age. Such rapid demographic changes are affecting almost all social and economic activities in mountainous areas, including forestry. In addition, younger people are leaving such areas, resulting in not only

Thus, it is difficult to find a clear reason to continue cooperatives: income from the forest is lacking, there is no future vision for forest management, the tax payments are difficult, and debt is increasing. As a result, the number of established forest producer cooperatives has been decreasing, and the number of dissolved cooperatives has been increasing. Future research should investigate how forest lands are being managed after dissolution of forest

road system, for example, it is difficult or impossible to harvest trees.

a decrease in labor but also a lack of managers for the future.

difficulty paying, which can lead to debt13.

shortage of labor power14.

producer cooperatives16.

Most forest producer cooperatives are facing management difficulties. They planted coniferous trees. If cutting activities are not conducted, the cooperatives cannot obtain income from the selling of logs. As a result, some cooperatives have chosen to dissolve the organization. However, a small number of cooperatives are persisting. Here, three such cooperatives, located in Hyogo, Mie, and Fukui Prefectures, are described17.
