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The Tokugawa shogunate instituted conservation policies. The Tokugawa shogunate made laws that limited the consumption of timber to buy time to replenish the forest supply:  o Magistrates were responsible for forests on daimyo lands. They closed off roads to forests, issued permits to peasants for cutting timber or grazing animals, and eliminated slash-and-burn clearing for agriculture. Selective cutting techniques were used. Forests were inventoried to specify types, numbers, and ages of trees. o Guards were posted around forest roads to eliminate illegal logging and enforce laws. o Laws and regulations specified how trees could be used once cut, how much wood could be used by whom, and how much the wood would cost.

Behavioral shifts contributed to conservation. Besides laws to limit wood consumption, several behavioral shifts helped forests recover. For example, fish and rice became the main staple of the Japanese diet, rather than cattle or oxen, which need grazing lands. Population growth began to slow, thereby reducing the demand for timber. People shifted from wood to coal as a fuel source. Finally, houses were built better for energy conservation, with cooking stoves rather than hearths, small portable heaters rather than central fireplaces, and solar heating rather than fireplaces. All these factors reduced wood consumption.

In Japan, much of the rice crop is planted in terraces on mountainsides. Water running down the hill supplies moisture to each step as it moves to lower elevations.

Forestry techniques began. Another strategy was to replant forests and manage them to increase the timber supply. Japanese foresters employed by the government and daimyos developed a knowledge of silviculture . Miyazaki Antei studied farming for 40 years and wrote a widely read book called Nogyo zensho (The Farmer's Compendium) in 1697. The book covered how to prepare seedbeds, soak seeds for germination, use seedlings to plant forests, and tend to growing trees. Japanese foresters also made tree farms or plantation forests. In those forests, royal or private lands were designated for growing trees like any other crop.

Many volunteer organizations help with the maintenance of forests; volunteers from the Nippon Foundation clear deadwood from a forest.

Efforts during the Tokugawa shogunate saved Japanese forests. The management and afforestation efforts—that is, the development of new forests—during the Tokugawa shogunate helped Japan recover its forests. During the twentieth century, demand for timber increased and again threatened forests, but conservation and afforestation increased forest growth in Japan. The land area of modern Japan is almost 70 percent covered by forests. About half of those forests are plantation forests. Unlike Easter Island, Japan was able to save its society from collapse due to deforestation. Author Jared Diamond attributes Japan's success to a strong, stable central government and wise ecological practices that began during the Tokugawa period.

There are a number of parks in Tokyo, Japan's capital and largest metropolitan area, despite its concentrated population.

Government action saved Japan's forests during the Tokugawa shogunate. After centuries of civil war, feudal Japan began a long period of peace and prosperity during the Tokugawa shogunate. Increased population growth and urbanization led to increasing demands for timber. Timber was used for fuel, construction, industry, and agriculture. The increased demands lead to deforestation. The ruling classes realized the danger of deforestation and instituted laws to manage forests, control wood transport, and limit wood consumption. These efforts conserved wood until forests could be replanted, mainly by plantation forestry. These efforts helped save Japan's forests, which now occupy 70 percent of the country's area.

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