Niche Markets for Economic Revitalisation of Satoyama Forest ...

Many satoyama areas lost significant economic value and
some were redeveloped as locations for industrial factories,
leisure facilities such as golf courses, or as housing or
commercial developments. In addition, in line with the
national forestation expansion policy, 12 thickets where
converted into Japanese cedar forests through tree planting.
Furthermore, thickets that were simply left idle and unused
became overgrown with shrubs and shrubby bamboo. With
the growth of evergreen broad leafed trees that are the
indigenous vegetation, heavier and fuller forest canopies
have resulted in darker forests with less solar radiation
reaching the forest floor. Therefore, organisms that once
grew and lived in the deciduous broad leaved forests where
plentiful sunlight reached the forest floor during early spring
are in rapid decline. 13
The lack of human intervention in the satoyama forest
has also led to overgrown thickets, thereby transforming
the forests into okuyama (remote forests). As a result, the
numbers of Japanese serow, Japanese monkey, Asiatic black
bear, and other wild animals that previously lived in more
remote forest habitats have come into closer contact with
human populations through expansion of their habitat
(Japan Wildlife Research Center, 2004) and the incidence
of damage or harm to people and agriculture or forestry
operations has increased. An increases in Asiatic black bear
populations 14 in the Hokuriku and Tohoku regions has been
attributed to record low yield of nuts (from beech and konara
oak) —an important food source for bears—but also to the
fact that the satoyama environment which once functioned
as an important buffer zone between bears and people has
been lost (Hayashi and Nozaki, 2004).
Finally, a decline in management activity in red pine forests
in Ishikawa has worsened their growing conditions. Japanese
red pine, which accounts for the majority of indigenous
coniferous forests, was formerly distributed primarily along
mountainous ridges. However, as these forest areas have
fallen into disuse as with the deciduous broad leaved tree
forests, the piling of fallen branches and leaves lead to a
worsening of the growing environment and decay damage 15
due to increased pine wood nematode infestation.
b) Artificial Forests in Ishikawa
The share of artificial forests makes up 39 per cent of the
non–national forests in Ishikawa Prefecture and most of
these are coniferous 16 . In terms of total volume of wood, they
account for 63 per cent (34 million cubic meters) of the 55
million cubic meters total in Ishikawa Prefecture (Forestry
Management Division, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Department, Ishikawa Prefectural Government, 2005).
Coniferous trees such as Japanese cedar and Japanese cypress
trees were planted in abundance as part of the national forest
expansion policy that started in 1955 in response to a rapid
increase in demand for wood materials for construction and
other purposes. About 60 per cent of the forest is between 21
and 50 years old (Forestry Management Division, Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries Department, Ishikawa Prefectural
Government, 2005).
importation of foreign wood products during the same
period (in 1960), causing a plunge in the prices of domestic
wood materials. This resulted in depopulation of mountain
villages, and the rapid reduction and aging of forestry
workers. Consequently, previous thinning and pruning
practices were not kept up and have not been reestablished.
In these dense forests, the loss of forest floor foliage and the
piling of fallen trees have led to a reduction in the forests
water retention capacity and resulted in and soil runoff. The
area also has greater susceptibility to avalanches, floods, and
mudslides during heavy rain.
Renewed Interest in Economic Revitalisation of Satoyama
There is currently a growing interest among conservationists
and interested parties to channel voluntary efforts into
targeted cooperation and to develop market opportunities
and incentives around which satoyama management can be
more robustly developed. As will be discussed below there
are opportunities in bio–energy, wood–based construction
materials, and possibly carbon sink management. Other
opportunities include food production—mushrooms, local
rice varieties (e.g. kamo–mai) and local rice wines (e.g.
maizokin) or conservation activities through ecotourism 17 ,
green tourism 18 , furusato (nostalgic values of past era type of
landscape) and other cultural (spiritual) retreats.
Still, it is important to recall that commercial incentives
should not dominate so much as to compromise the
ecological integrity of satoyama, through the promotion
of artificial forests required to produce one given product.
The high level of biological diversity in satoyama can be
attributed to the diverse environments included therein,
including agriculture land, grasslands, and water areas. In
the typical satoyama of the past, deciduous broad–leaved
trees such as konara oak and saw tooth oak of different
ages were common due to the cyclical cutting of firewood
and charcoal production. Thickets with mixed tree types
and well–maintained artificial forests, agriculture land, and
reservoirs were laid out in a mosaic pattern. Currently, as
satoyama resources have not been used, and through loss
of their characteristics and functions, species diversity has
reduced (Takeuchi et al, 2001). Thus, the promotion of the
use of firewood and charcoal is still very important from
the standpoint of the regeneration of satoyama deciduous
broad–leaved forests (thickets) and conservation of the
natural ecosystem. Production system need to make use of
deciduous broad–leaved trees—including the conservation
and nursing of thickets, the mixed planting of deciduous
broad–leaved trees among artificial forests (conifer), or the
conversion of coniferous forests to deciduous broad–leaved
forests.
However, while promoting the expansion of the national
forest, the government of Japan also liberalised the
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