Opening Remarks by Mr. Mutsuyoshi Nishimura
Ambassador for Global Environment Ministry of Foreign Affairs
at the First Meeting for the Promotion of Asia Forest Partnership (AFP)

11 November 2002
Tokyo, Japan

Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is a great honor for me to stand before you at this unique and historic forum. I say that it is a unique and historic occasion for two reasons.

First, this conference is unique for its avant-garde attitude in taking up forest as a partnership issue. For decades, the international community has been debating all sorts of issues related to sustainable earth management, such as climate change, endangered species, bio-diversity, ozone holes, noxious substances, forest, water and many other issues.

And, as we all know, forest is not an easy issue. Although rather conventional, it can polarize developing and developed countries. Yet, we assemble here today, as partners and co-workers, to discuss this difficult but all-important issue. That alone, in my view, marks a significant step forward, which we can all celebrate.

The second reason for this conference's avant-garde attitude is that it is a truck II event. The days of governments making all the decisions are soon to end. On any public issue, civil society, business and labor, scientists and engineers, pundits and non specialists, and all sorts of stake holders are now joining parliaments and officeholders in formulating policies and options. Forest, with its multiple implications, is just such an issue. For this reason, this partnership meeting, the first of its kind, should be commended.

For no clear reason, the forests are cherished by all humanity, no matter what nationality or ethnicity. Therefore, as we witness 13 million hectares of forest disappear worldwide every year, anxiety mounts. As we see that more than 50% of the timber produced in Indonesia is harvested illegally, anxiety mounts. As deforestation, devastation and degradation march on unabated, anxiety mounts. Sustainable forest management is absolutely crucial for human kind.

For no clear reason, the Japanese people treasure the forests as well. Forests cover two-thirds of this country. The use of timber and wood is a centuries-old tradition. The oldest wooden architecture in the world is here. Constructed in the seventh century, it is made of cypress timber from the year 241, scientists claim.

Forests provide enormous resources, both material as well as non-material. Today we recognize their multi-functional role in water retention, bio-diversity, and as a sink for carbon dioxide. All these newly found functions are on top of the traditional role of timber production. As the forest issue becomes more multi-functional, it will be increasingly difficult to strike a good balance among diverse interests.

Yet, most people agree that sustainable forest management is the answer. We all concur on that, although we tend to differ on other issues. Perhaps people are interpreting the wording from their own perspectives.

Whatever it may be, each country must adopt a responsible attitude and implement credible measures to ensure superior forest assets for future generations. Japan takes sustainable forest management most seriously.

With this in mind, Japan last year conducted a comprehensive review of its forest and forestry policy for the first time in nearly 4 decades. As a result, the new Forests and Forestry Basic Law was enacted.

The key principles of the new policy are to maximize the multiple functions of forests and to promote the healthy and sustainable development of forestry.

With this new legislation and heightened public participation, we believe that a new level of good governance, preservation and utilization of our forest resources can be achieved while proactively advancing positive international cooperation.

Sustainable forest management is a key parameter for Japan in addressing issues related to illegal timber. Japan, as a major wood importing country, has been debating against the illegal harvest of timber most vigorously. Such timber simply should never be used. We hope that the issue will be discussed thoroughly at this forum today.

The issue of illegal timber is a multi-faceted problem, however. It involves law enforcement and governance. It requires all parties

-to raise their awareness,
-to enforce laws and regulations,
-to improve combating measures such as labeling and certification,
-to put together monitoring and verification systems,
-and last but not least, to achieve more civil society participation.

Various fora have already adopted a series of policy options and recommendations for both the demand side and the supply side. Japan supports all these efforts and continues being fully engaged on the issue. Japan highly appreciates, in this regard, the efforts being made by the ITTO and the Indonesian Government. We are cooperating most earnestly including conducting scientific studies to identify the origin of timber by chemical and DNA analyses in order to detect illegally harvested timber.

This leads me to the broader topic of Japan's cooperation on forest issues. Here again, the key principle is sustainable forest management. We wish to provide our technical knowledge and financial resources to the rest of the world so that sustainable forest management will be a viable option around the globe.

Combating deforestation and forest degradation is the first priority. Management of natural forests, planted forests including those in tropical countries, prevention of forest fires, and promotion of social forestry are also major objectives of our development assistance policy.

Thus far, Japan has carried out more than 20 technical cooperation projects in 15 countries. On-going projects include afforestation in China, research for rehabilitation and conservation of natural forests in Brazil, social forestry in Nepal and Kenya, and prevention of forest fire and bio-diversity conservation in Indonesia.

Some of our aid projects merit mention. One is our forest fire prevention project in Indonesia. The entire project is a unique mixture of high tech, state-of-the-art remote sensing from a Japanese satellite and low-tech initiatives such as raising public awareness in schools and remote communities. This 10-year project is already proving to be very effective. And it signals the commitment of Indonesia and Japan to forest preservation.

We are also achieving success in many other places such as China and Thailand. I have reviewed some of the project reports written by participating engineers. While they discuss various factors that have contributed to success, I have found that the engineers invariably agree on one thing, that is, the strong commitment of people to action.

This offers an important lesson. Yes, we need huge financial resources. And yes, we need state-of-the-art technologies from satellites to genetics. Yet, the most important ingredient is, by far, human commitment. It is vital for the success of any enterprise.

In fact, partnership begins with commitment. Let us confirm that commitment today for the people of tomorrow.

Thank you.