20.12.2018
After two rich years at ATIBT, I’m going to try the experience in Japan, country of millennial temples. Wooded at nearly 70% and with a highly developed processing industry, Japan is an appropriate place to deepen the discoveries of the wood material made within the ATIBT.
In the footsteps of Kongo Gumi, the oldest company in the world created in 548, based near Osaka, I will try to learn the maximum of this wood culture, famous among others for its precision work techniques and its architecture centered around wood, both native and imported. Tropical timber therefore plays an important role in the country’s industry – as an importer of finished products as well as a log exporter from Asia. In this context, issues related to legality are central to the discussions for Japanese companies. All topics addressed at ATIBT will therefore be extremely valuable, especially the EUTR and FLEGT processes.
The sustainable management of forests and the valorization of the resources are also important stakes for this archipelago subjected to strong natural pressures. Committed to a policy of conservation of its natural forest areas, Japan has to face management problems (management plan not respected, unadapted plantations for species,…) which aggravate the impact of disturbances related to climate change. Adaptation and preservation are also central here as they are for the forests of the Congo Basin.
Thank you to all the people with whom I had the chance to collaborate during this wonderful first professional experience.
Happy Holidays and all the best to ATIBT,
Élise HERAL
