January 31, 2020 13th Dialogue meeting was held in Nihonmatsu City

IER has continued to hold the dialogue meeting since 2016, in order to feedback our research results to local communities. At the 13th meeting was held on the theme of “福島の林業復活に向けて(Towards revitalization of forestry in Fukushima)” with two presenters. One is the Project Professor Vasyl Yoschenko, who studies on the radiation effect to forest in the exclusion zone, and the other is Seiji Ozawa, the director of Tohoku area office, Ministry of the Environment. Seventy six participants from forestry and local communities, many of those have some connection to the forest in Fukushima.

Professor Yoschenko explained that the radiocesium concentration levels in forests have been decreasing very slowly because radiocesium circulates in the ecosystem cycle of forests, such as foliage falling and returning to the ground as litter followed by roots uptake from soil to the aboveground biomass. He also mentioned that in Ukraine, which was affected by the Chernobyl nuclear accident, the standard values of radionuclide concentrations in wood have been set according to the usage for trying to promote the use of wooden materials safety. Director Ozawa emphasized that the forest that covers a large area in Fukushima Prefecture plays an important role in Fukushima. He also introduced the efforts prefecture has been made for revitalization such as the framework of the “Fukushima Forest Restoration Project” and the study tour that raises awareness of forestry.

The audience asked many questions about forestry and decontamination. We hope that this meeting will serve as a forum for people involved in the forests of Fukushima to exchange and share views and information. And we keep improving our activity with your feedbacks.