#Forest

Preserving the Rich Forests of Eiheiji Temple for the Future

The catalyst was an incident in 2010 when a giant cedar tree on the grounds of Eiheiji Temple broke in a strong wind, partially destroying the bell tower. Recognizing this as a serious threat to the safety of monks and worshippers, Eiheiji Temple immediately began investigating the temple grounds and surrounding forest. PACIFIC CONSULTANTS was commissioned to this project. Sixteen years have passed. Since then the "Eiheiji Forest Project" continues in various forms. We talked to three people who are central to the project: Yasuhisa SAITO from the Technology Development Sec. at Advanced Technology Center, Kyosuke SAKURAI from the Next-Generation Environmental Creation Sec., of the Environmental Symbiosis Dept., Social Innovation Div. and Advanced Technology Center, and Chiyoshi MINAMI from the Project Management Dept., Project Management Div.

What is Smart Forestry?

Japan is one of the world's leading forested countries. The value of forests is not only being reassessed from the perspective of timber utilization, but also from the perspective of achieving carbon neutrality, disaster prevention, and biodiversity conservation. However, Japan's forestry industry is plagued by low productivity and a serious labor shortage. The promotion of smart forestry is expected to solve these issues. We spoke with three people at PACIFIC CONSULTANTS who are working on this initiative: Hisashi NAKAMURA of the Information Business Dept., Digital Service Div.; Kyosuke SAKURAI of Environmental Symbiosis Dept., Social Innovation Div. and Advanced Technology Center; and Chiyoshi MINAMI of the Project Management Dept., Project Management Div.