National forest management in Hokkaido, Japan: Biodiversity conservation considerations

The national forests of Hokkaido, Japan comprise 3.1 million hectares of diverse temperate and boreal ecosystems and associated wildlife assemblages. Species with large area requirements, such as the Blakiston's fish owl (Ketupa blakistoni blakistoni), exist on these lands.; This study assesses the extent to which contemporary national forest policy has integrated biodiversity conservation into the timber production mission. The Blakiston's fish owl, a resident, endangered species, is used to exemplify overall biodiversity conservation efforts. Information was gathered from 52 "key informant" interviews.; The history of policy change in Hokkaido national forest management exhibits marked similarity to that of the United States. During the last one hundred years, pioneering forest destruction has been followed by federal assumption of control, decades of custodial management, a transition to active management, and most recently by a quarter century of policy evolution influenced by concern for environmental quality. Contemporary Japan Forest Agency efforts at biodiversity conservation focus on designation of species-specific protected areas within the broader multiple use matrix. Minimal emphasis is placed on wildlife inventory or monitoring, habitat management, or habitat restoration on matrix lands. The Forest Agency has few personnel dedicated to biodiversity conservation, and does not recruit or train specialists. National forest planning processes do not address species conservation goals or landscape-level ecological concerns, nor do they contemplate environmental restoration.; Because of public pressure, passage of federal endangered species legislation, and recognition of a connection to enhanced revenue generation, the Forest Agency has recently placed greater importance on species conservation, though current efforts appear insufficient to guarantee fish owl persistence. In the future, increased public demand for species conservation and greater public participation in Forest Agency affairs will likely arise. This trend may conflict with agency and Japanese public desires for increased reliance upon domestic sources of wood fiber.; While non-timber production missions have grown in importance in the last decade, it is premature to argue that the primary mission of Japanese national forest management is biodiversity conservation, as has been argued of United States national forest management.