Traditonal control and modern adaptation of common property resources on pasturing

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With increasing international interest in control and management of global common property, we attempted to make a comparison between traditional way of control in several locations in Japan and made a survey of biodiversity of historical transition and modern adjustment of common property resources. The eventual aim of this study is to bring out the characteristics of common property resources in modern Japan, using the concept of "common", which is open to anyone for access and "communal", which only authorized member have access to.In 1996, we made a pilot survey in the following areas as ; Asoh, Takayama, and Kurosima and Okinawa. In 1997, we chose Kurosima and Ishigakijima as main research places, and made a concentrate research on the use of common pasture and the contfol system for livestock as an example of tranditional common property resources. We also surveyed Yamagatamura as a comparative place. As a result of that, the following facts became evident in each areas.Unlike the membership pasturage that has been a traditional custom in Japan, common pasture was formed by combining private and town property in Kuroshima. They practiced common pasturage regulating its membership only to those who own private property within the pasture. However it became clear that they have been maintaining and controlling the cattle ranch as common property by making use of "common" as if "communal". What they do is to sell off town property before and after the establishment of the pasturage in order to secure priveate property.In contrast, Yamagatamura traditionally had practiced common pasturing through the way of membership to use a natural forest.However, it became clear that it has adopted a new way which is to control livestock by moving a pasture from a natural forest to a modern common pasture as a result of the necessity for efficiency of calves production according to modernization of stock raising in recent years.