Japan’s Basic Plan for Forests and Forestry was adopted by the Cabinet meeting on May 24, 2016. It is a guideline for forest preparation and protection, forestry and timber industry. In this plan, the Japanese government has proposed the relevant goals of “playing multiple functions of forests” and “increasing the supply of wood”.

In order to achieve the goal of “playing multiple functions of forests”, the basic plan proposes that by 2020, 2025 and 2030, the area of single-layer mature forests will reach 10.2 million hm2, 10.2 million hm2 and 9.9 million hm2, respectively; The area reached 1.2 million hm2, 1.4 million hm2 and 2 million hm2 respectively; the natural forest area reached 13.6 million hm2, 13.5 million hm2 and 13.2 million hm2 respectively. The total area of these three types of forests is about 25.1 million hm2, which is the same as the 2015 level.

In the “increasing the supply of wood” target, the basic plan proposes that by 2020 and 2025, the supply of wood will reach 32 million m3 and 40 million m3 respectively.