Shimokawa Town, Hokkaido "Forest Cluster Special Zone" - in the context of around 2002

Shimokawa Town, Hokkaido "Forest Cluster Special Zone" - in the context of around 2002

Around 2002, Japan was about to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, and global warming countermeasures became a national issue. In the midst of this situation, unique approaches utilizing local resources were being sought in various regions, and Shimokawa Town in Hokkaido proposed to balance the environment and industry, with a focus on forests, as a "forest cluster special zone. The town, which has a long tradition of forestry, was facing depopulation and a slump in the forestry industry, but it saw this as an opportunity for revitalization and positioned forests as the foundation for regional development.

The concept has two pillars. The first is to regard forests as carbon dioxide sinks and establish a recycling-oriented management system that repeats sustainable logging and reforestation. This would directly contribute to the prevention of global warming and re-evaluate forests as "environmental infrastructure. The second objective was to form an industrial cluster with forests at its core. The management of state-owned forests was outsourced to municipalities to promote community-led management. At the same time, a mechanism was established to link tourism, industry, and education by linking forest experiences, eco-tourism, and forest product processing.

Particularly innovative was the deregulation of the opening of farmer's inns to encourage long-term stays and hands-on exchanges with city residents, thereby balancing the local economy and forest culture. Furthermore, by supporting entrepreneurial activities by local residents, non-profit organization activities, and accepting outside investment, the project created an environment in which a variety of entities could participate.

This attempt paved the way for an "environmental town" that creates new jobs while protecting the forests, and can be positioned as a pioneering example that will lead to later environmental model cities and regional development policies.