Forestry cooperatives that oversee woodlands in areas designated as
no-entry zones and planned evacuation zones due to high levels of
radiation from the ongoing nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture are in
danger of collapse, it has emerged.

Forestry workers are currently not operating outdoors in the affected
areas out of concerns over radiation exposure. In addition, because it
is more difficult to improve soil conditions of woodlands than that of
farmland, it is likely that forestry workers will be kept from returning
to work for a long time. Long-term neglect of woodlands, in turn, can
lead to various risks, including the increased incidence of mudslides.

According to the Fukushima Prefectural Government and an association of
Fukushima Prefecture forestry cooperatives, there is approximately
138,000 hectares of forest mostly under the jurisdiction of five
different forestry cooperatives in the 11 municipalities where entry is
prohibited or evacuation will be required in the coming weeks based on
government directives.

After the village of Iitate was designated a planned evacuation zone and
the government instructed workers there to refrain from working
outdoors, a local forestry cooperative that oversees over 7,200 hectares
of forest determined that it was unfeasible to continue its operations.
As a result, the majority of the cooperatives’ 11 officials and 15
workers will be forced to go on leave in the near future. Meanwhile, one
cooperative official worries about what the implications of interrupted
operations will be.

"If we can’t go in to thin the trees for a year or longer, the
underbrush will grow and the saplings that have been newly planted will
suffer from lack of sunlight,“said cooperative chief Hiroshi Sagara.”The forest will fall into disrepair and trees will fail to grow well."

Sagara is also concerned about severe soil contamination by radioactive
materials. "Improving soil quality (in forests) is harder than it is for
farmland. Even if the evacuation orders are rescinded, it may be a long
time before radiation levels are low enough for workers to go in there."
He also fears that even if such problems are alleviated, there may not
be enough workers to support the industry at that point. "People who
land new jobs where they’ve evacuated to may not return to forestry.
There may be a shortage of workers, preventing us from sufficiently
caring for the woodlands."

The Futaba area forestry cooperative, which presides over some 31,000
hectares of woodlands, is located within a 30-kilometer radius from the
crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant. The cooperative office was
relocated from the village of Tomioka to the city of Tamura
approximately 40 kilometers away, and some 80 workers have evacuated to
various locations both in and outside the prefecture. Cooperative chief
Kimio Akimoto, however, says he wants to keep the cooperative going.

"There are workers who say that they want to come back when we restart
operations,“he said.”There will be a lot less work for us, but I want
the cooperative to survive."

Meanwhile, woodlands in the city of Tamura, parts of which were
previously under the government’s indoor-standby directive, are now
designated an “emergency evacuation preparation zone,” where residents
are required to be prepared to take shelter indoors or evacuate by
themselves, but are otherwise permitted to work outdoors. At Fukushima
Central Forestry Cooperative, which resumed operations on May 25,
officials and workers have voiced concerns over the difficulty of prompt
evacuation in case of an emergency during outdoor work. Most of the work
right now is being carried out using heavy machinery with doors and
windows that can be closed shut, and plans are underway to supply site
supervisors with radiation meters to further ensure workers’ safety.

The association of Fukushima prefectural forestry cooperatives plans to
support the five cooperatives by providing them with work that would
have gone to other prefectural cooperatives. The Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries Ministry’s Forestry Agency is slated to investigate
contamination levels of mountain forests, but has yet to establish
specific decontamination measures.

"For the time being, we would like the industry to use TEPCO’s payments
for damages and aid from the national government to continue its
operations and strive for its survival," a ministry official said.

Mainichi Shimbun