500彩票网

Forests are a wonderful source of valuable functions to the people. They provide us with lumber, help to control flooding, recharge groundwater, prevent landslides, absorb carbon dioxide, and preserve biodiversity. Over our long history, humans have judiciously cut and replanted forests as needed to maintain a good balance and keep the valuable functions to the people. In recent years, however, changes in our tastes, values, and lifestyles have caused us to outstrip the slow gentle pace of forest time, leaving our forests behind as humanity barrels forward at incredible speed.
 
People’s attitudes can be easily changed but change is not so easy for forests. Japan’s forests of today reflect the vision of the era of rapid economic growth of 50 years ago. Back then, people were motivated by economics. Preparing by steadfastly planting trees that could be harvested for lumber in the future seemed a good way to make the forests more productive. But as time passed, people’s expectations changed and productivity was superseded by an emphasis on the need for preserving groundwater, preventing disaster, and lowering carbon dioxide levels. Today, for the first time in Japanese history, people who want to increase forest productivity in terms of lumber are in the minority. No one was able to predict that people’s attitudes would change so drasticall