Wood Use Points Secretariat Starts Accepting Applications for Point Issuance and Exchange for Promoting Wood Use

Image by Ian Britton. Some Rights Reserved.

Wood Use Points Secretariat, the Forestry Agency of Japan started accepting applications for the issuance and exchange of points as part of the Wood-Use Point Program on July 1, 2013. Through the program, applicants will earn points when building a wooden house or expanding a house using wood, remodeling a house using wood for the interior or exterior, and buying wood products, wood pellet stoves and wood stoves, if the products and projects utilize designated wood species such as cedar, cypress and larch. The points can then be exchanged for local agricultural, forestry or fishery products.

Planted forest resources in Japan have been growing while the use of wood has not increased. New trees not being planted and forests not being thinned causes landslides, less carbon-dioxide absorption, and an increased risk of disease and insect damage in forests. In addition, this situation is a major cause of decline in the vitality of rural areas.

In response to status quo, the program aims to appropriately use wood to help develop appropriate management and conservation of the forests, mitigate global warming, and build a sustainable society, thereby contributing to the revitalization of rural areas.