Its a place internationally synonymous with the fight against climate change,but Japans Kyoto the place where the landmark Kyoto Protocol was adopted is desperate to cut down its trees. As a swathe of maple leaves flame an autumnal red in Kyoto prefecture,tourists flock to watch the annual spectacle. Residents,and students of Kyotos only forest research course,watch too,wistfully. Over 70 per cent of Kyotos area is privately-owned forests. But with the current emphasis on protecting the environment,and with little protection against the influx of cheap foreign wood,local businesses of logging and crafting the delicate,sand-coloured Kitayamasuki Japanese cedar are getting strangled. Ironically,this is also leading to a rise in wood mileage an increase in the carbon footprint and resource load of the wood that has to travel long distances to reach Japan. According to estimates by the local administration,one cubic metre of foreign wood used in Kyoto emits 150 kg of carbon dioxide. Kyoto now wants to remind the world that before the Protocol and the import industry,its chief occupation was logging the trees that fill its forests today. The city government of Kyoto prefecture is offering a subsidy to builders who choose Kyotos native cedar over foreign wood. Many of these forests are man-made. They need to be logged periodically so the forest can be healthy. We have to go back to what we did. The foreign imports have ruined the home industry, said Natsuko Fujita,one of the 10 girls in senior grade at Kyotos Kitukawada senior high schools forestry research section. Dressed in work overalls,Fujitas class of 30 students learns how to cut cedar trees,separate,polish and shine logs,and create an array of products: from chairs,curios and slim tofu making containers to entire log houses. We have forgotten how to use our trees, said Shinji Harade,teacher of the forestry research course. If these forests have to grow,they have to be managed. Using foreign wood also means that the wood mileage is increasing,which is not good for the planet. I want the new generation to go back to our own industry. The world should once again know Kyoto for its woodwork. With the Protocol adopted in 1997 and in force since 2005 set to lapse in 2012,and the road to Copenhagen 2009 looking increasingly rocky,Kyoto has been hearing a lot about the need to protect the environment. For the past few years,the city government has been talking a lot about climate change and taking measures to reduce the load on the environment, said Yukiho Takehama from the Kyoto Centre for Climate Action. But this,ironically,is not what Kyoto wants the most. The people of Kyoto know that this has become a historic place due to the Protocol, said Takehama. And yet,she adds,the key to Kyotos future lies in the felling of its trees. The forests are lying abandoned. The trees are falling,they have become too tall to stand. If we dont take care of the forests and cut the trees when necessary,they will stop acting like a good carbon sink.
