ABSTRACT
World concern over the destruction of tropical rain forests has become significant. In Japan too, measures to reduce the amount of tropical timber are being rapidly adopted. In the construction industry, 100 million sheets of lauan plywood are being used annually to make concrete formwork. In order to save these forests from destruction and protect the Earth’s natural environment, a positive effort is being made to deal with the problem and research is being carried out on alternative materials; new methods using alternatives are being developed and the effective use of recycled materials is being established.
