The matchmaking model: Kyoto Model Forest connects local forest owners and companies for forest conservation

In Japan, nearly 60 per cent of forests are privately owned, with 90 per cent of these owners holding less than 10 hectares each. As a result of government policies in the 1960s aimed at meeting high timber demand, Japan’s planted forest stocks increased sixfold between 1966 and 2022. Much of the cedar and cypress planted then has now reached maturity. Many forests are located in steep, mountainous areas that are difficult to access and utilize efficiently, or extremely costly to harvest and transport timber from.

By the late 1970s, Japan shifted its focus to timber imports, taking advantage of abundant and lower-cost foreign wood. This shift reduced demand for domestically produced timber, as local producers could not compete on price. Compounding the problem, the communities that traditionally managed these forests are ageing, with too few successors to carry on the work. Many forests today in Japan remain underutilized and undermanaged.

This challenge is evident in the Kyoto Model Forest, which spans the entire Kyoto Prefecture. Of its 461,300 hectares, 342,243 is forest land, 98 per cent of which is privately owned. The under-management of these forests has led to degraded understories, loss of vegetation and increased vulnerability to soil erosion, diminishing the forests’ capacity to conserve water. In some areas, abandoned bamboo has spread unchecked, suppressing native vegetation, increasing wildfire risk and contributing to human–wildlife conflict.

Recognizing these challenges, the Kyoto Model Forest Association stepped in as a matchmaker. The association connects local forest owners with private companies, fostering partnerships that reflect local needs. To ensure these partnerships are genuinely sustainable, the association facilitates the formalization of five to 10-year memorandums of understanding (MoUs) that clearly define both local needs and corporate responsibilities.

Long-standing partnerships

In Nantan, a city about 60 kilometers from central Kyoto, local stakeholders have been collaborating for over 17 years. Like many areas around Kyoto, Nantan faces challenges as its ageing residents struggle to care for the forests. In 2007, the Kyoto Model Forest Association connected Shimadzu Corporation, a world leader in analytical instruments, with local forest owners. The association brought together communities, the Yagi Town Tourism Association, Nantan City and Kyoto Prefecture, serving as a mediator to ensure that the company’s activities aligned with local needs.

After several exchange sessions, the stakeholders signed an MoU in 2008. The agreement outlined how Shimadzu would provide funding for forest maintenance and how its employees would participate in thinning, pruning, woodworking and environmental education. Over the past 17 years, Shimadzu has conducted forest activities about three times a year, including forest education for all new employees.

According to Nantan City, such a partnership was unprecedented at the time. It took considerable effort to coordinate with local residents before they fully understood the initiative. Today, the community warmly welcomes the corporation’s continued efforts to help maintain the forests.

Similarly, Sanyo Chemical Industries has been carrying out forestry activities in Wazuka Town since 2009, guided by the philosophy of fostering a love of nature. These activities include forest programmes for new staff, park improvements, and environmental education for employees and their families. To date, more than 2,500 staff members have participated. Takao Ando, Senior Adviser of Sanyo Chemical Industries and Director of the Sanyo Chemical Foundation for Social Contribution, also serves as the Chief Director of the Kyoto Model Forest Association, helping to connect private companies with local stakeholders.

Bringing business expertise to ecosystem conservation

The Model Forest’s matchmaking role also extends to academia. Kyoto University’s Field Science Education and Research Center at Ashiu Forest Research Station is nestled in the mountainous forests of Miyama Ashiu, about a two-hour drive from central Kyoto. As one of the largest primary forests in Kinki district, Japan, it serves as a vital site for research in forest and ecosystem science.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many students and researchers were unable to visit the forest as part of their field education. The Kyoto Model Forest Association connected KDDI, a telecommunications company, with Kyoto University. KDDI helped create a virtual reality (VR) video and provided VR sets to students, enabling them to experience the forest remotely.

The partnership has thrived since. KDDI now also offers LPWA network services enabling researchers to connect even in remote mountain areas, and supports devices used for deer control and forest management. In return, Kyoto University provides biodiversity training sessions for KDDI staff. This partnership, facilitated by the Kyoto Model Forest Association, ensures the company remains responsive to the needs of both the research centre and local communities.

The matchmaker for forest conservation

The Kyoto Model Forest Association has grown to 188 regular members and 31 supporting members, including companies, government agencies, organizations and individuals, and facilitated 38 MoU forest sites.

These local–public–private partnerships do not occur in a vacuum. For companies, these activities offer clear benefits, providing opportunities to demonstrate contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals and meet other sustainability targets. Many have set carbon-neutral or net-zero targets for 2030 or 2050 and are increasingly required to disclose their nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities through the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures.

In recent years, companies have also shown growing interest in linking their MoU activities to biodiversity conservation outcomes, exploring emerging mechanisms such as biodiversity credits and other effective area-based conservation measures.

The Kyoto Model Forest Associations’ role as trusted mediator is crucial to these successes. Bringing businesses into the non-profit sector is still a sought-after goal and could serve as a working model for other similar organizations. Connecting stakeholders through seminars, the association also serves as a hub and helps translate policy opportunities into concrete partnerships. The association also manages mechanisms like the Forest Management Fund and Greenery Donation Funds, allowing private companies to contribute directly to local forest maintenance costs and conservation.

This approach reflects the vision of the Kyoto Model Forest Movement, which promotes broad stakeholder participation and seeks to establish new, symbiotic relationships between people, organizations and forests. A strong emphasis is placed on forest education for children, embodying the ultimate goal, which, as Tsukasa Nakama, secretary general of the Kyoto Model Forest Association, puts it, is “to pass down the richness of the forests to the next generations”.

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Chertalay Suwanpanich is a communication and knowledge management officer at RECOFTC.

The Regional Model Forest Network–Asia is supported by the Global Leadership Program under the Department of Natural Resources, Government of Canada. RECOFTC is the Secretariat of RMFN–Asia.