Facing the Challenge of Social Forestry in Japan: The Case of Reviving Harmonious Coexistence Between Forest and People in Okayama Prefecture
Facing the Challenge of Social Forestry in Japan: The Case of Reviving Harmonious Coexistence Between Forest and People in Okayama Prefecture
复制标题
面对日本社会林业的挑战：恢复冈山县森林与人和谐共处的案例
DOI：
10.1007/s11842-012-9210-6
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发表时间：
2013
影响因子：
1.5
通讯作者：
M. Inoue
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
M. Hasegawa;J. Pulhin;M. Inoue
自1970年代以来，特别是在热带地区，社会林业作为一种发展战略不断发展，以解决森林退化问题，并在这些地区人口迅速增长的情况下促进当地社区发展。然而，作为一种实践，社会林业自古以来就存在于世界许多地方，包括日本的森林社区。20世纪50年代，随着能源的变化和林业的工业化，日本的森林与人的关系发生了巨大的变化。今天，大多数人造林都没有得到充分利用，森林社区由于林业活动减少、人口减少和人们价值观的变化而被边缘化。一些社区通过邀请可能有兴趣在农村地区定居的潜在城市移民来解决这一问题。本文以日本冈山县西若仓村为例，探讨了日本社会林业面临的挑战。研究发现，森林资源利用不足可能是造成严重环境退化和森林社区边缘化的一个原因，西若仓与移民合作恢复森林管理的过程是一个重新审视和创造森林与人的关系的过程。本研究提出了两个相关的论点，即（1）当地人和移民的互动为森林管理带来了新的视角，（2）在面临人口减少和森林资源利用不足的社区，社会林业可以是一种有效的方法，以新的形式重新发现传统的森林管理，振兴森林和当地社区。
Social forestry as a development strategy has evolved since the 1970s, especially in the tropics, to address forest degradation and promote local community development amidst the burgeoning population in these areas. As a practice, however, social forestry has been in place since ancient times in many parts of the world, including Japanese forest communities. Forest-people relationships in Japan drastically changed through massive afforestation programs after the energy source change and with the industrialization of the forest sector in 1950s. The majority of the planted forests are underutilized today and forest communities are marginalized due to the decline of forestry operations, depopulation, and changes in people’s values. Some communities address this concern by inviting potential urban migrants who may be interested in settling in rural areas. Using the case of the Nishiawakura Village in Okayama Prefecture, this paper explores the recent challenges confronting social forestry in Japan. It is found that underutilization of forest resources can be a cause of serious environmental degradation and marginalization of forest communities, and that Nishiawakura’s journey to renew forest management in partnership with migrants is a process of revisiting and creating the forest-people relationship. This study advances two related arguments, namely (1) the interaction of the local people and the migrants brings new perspectives to forest management, and (2) in a community facing depopulation and underutilization of forest resources, social forestry can be an effective approach to rediscover traditional forest management in a new form and revitalize forests and local communities.