Status and Trends in Forest Environment Transfer Tax and Information Interface between Prefectures and Municipalities: Multi-Level Governance of Forest Management in 47 Japanese Prefectures

Ryo Kohsaka and Yuta Uchiyama
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Ryo Kohsaka: Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan
Yuta Uchiyama: Graduate School of Homan Development and Environment, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: In 2019, Japan introduced a national forest-environment-transfer tax (FETT). Prefectural and municipal governments receive tax revenue. Currently, 37 prefectures in Japan have prefectural forest taxes, and the prefectures need to demarcate how their own taxes and the national tax are being used. This study analyzed the overall use trends of national tax, which is for supporting municipal forest management, and review the status of prefectural forest environmental taxes. National tax was primarily applied to organizing the information of forests and their owners. The main components of support by prefectures to municipalities were support to questionnaires for private forest owners, other technical supports, securing successors, and training successors. Regarding the prefectural taxes, forest types and policies, which were implemented by the taxes, were reviewed in 18 prefectures. The differentiation of the tax uses of prefectural tax and FETT as a national tax was implemented based on the types of forest and supporting activities, and the spatial scales of forest management. The formation of FETT does not necessarily accompany the flexible assignment of jurisdictions and functions of multi-level governance, with potentially limiting impacts so far. This study could concretely conclude with the demand for participatory social learning toward sustainable forest policymaking and implementations of payment for ecosystem services in forests at the multi-levels of the national government, prefectures, and municipalities.

Keywords: information exchange interface; prefectures; municipality; forest environment transfer tax (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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