Situation and Potentiality of Suburban and Rural Satoyama Woodlands Including Fragmented Urban Forest Reserves in Present Society

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  • 里山の現状と潜在力及び市民保全活動の展望
  • サトヤマ ノ ゲンジョウ ト センザイリョク オヨビ シミン ホゼン カツドウ ノ テンボウ

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Abstract

In mountainous Japan, the majority of people historically used to live in the countryside and highlands. Every city was a reasonable size, and surrounded by farmlands of which interspersed or fringed with hilly coppice woodlands called satoyama. The satoyama played important roles of producing firewood and charcoal under cut and regenerative regime around 15 year interval. The mosaic composition at different stages of reforestation arranged a series of various wildlife habitats from sunny stands to shaded ones. Then various flora and fauna could live there alternatively or in crossing over, and it also offered attractive seasonal landscape and amenity space for both local people and city dweller. However, due to the fuel revolution, the satoyama lost the productive roles, and were abandoned or changed into conifer plantations. The abandoned coppice is now in poverty on bio-diversity, landscape and amenity space, according to the natural succession. Conifer plantation is also in serious situation by loosing such multiple roles as to prevent soil erosion and flood, to supply river water and wildlife habitat, timber production, including the above listed functions, under dense shading condition. Because labor shortage in rural villages and imported cheap timbers have made difficult to manage the plantation. Rapid industrialization with population flow from rural villages to cities has caused depopulated areas and urban expansion of which swallowed suburban farmland and even satoyama. Now, about 80% of the Japanese live in cities, and this has fostered numerous environmental and social problems. Additionally, under global environmental issues, when urban residents live apart from the nature, this study revalued multiple functions of woodlands, and considered not only to improve and to restore the previous roles, but also bring out further potential from both abandoned coppice and conifer plantation, including fragmented urban forests as remains of satoyama. To adopt the research results and to make up a social system to the actual situation, a case study was conducted about BTCV (British Trust for Conservation Volunteers) on its history, system and activity, and also reviewed the domestic circumstances of conservation activities in Japan. The other hand, since 1987, experimental research has been also conducted by raising or coordinating conservation groups, and assessed the potentiality. Based on the remarkable response of volunteers, since 1994, the International Conservation Working Holidays were launched jointly with BTCV. Forest improvement by volunteer activities, including dry stone walling for collapsed terraced paddy, showed not only to restore the habitats and amenity landscape, but also to make people understand an importance of ecological environment. It was recognized to generate friendship and partnership among participants, and also between rural villagers and city-dwellers, through the local conservation activities. These results were considered to be effective to spread and establish the sustainable human life in domestic and global.

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