Comparison between the past and present systems used for national forest inventory in Japan

The forest resource database, called Shinrinbo, provides complete statistics about Japanese forests and forest resources. In 1999, a collaboration between the Japanese Forest Agency and the forest departments of individual prefectures resulted in the development of a new nation-wide forest inventory, which met the standards and rules of the Montreal Process and the Santiago Declaration. This inventory involves systematic sampling covering the entire forest area of Japan. This paper highlights the forest inventory systems used in Japan after World War II.