Why ‘SATOYAMA’ is important?
-IAESTE JAPAN Summer Event 2005 Report-
Kishi Seminar, Faculty of Economics Doshisha University
Contents
1. What is SATOYAMA?
1-1 SATOYAMA’s definition
1-2 SATOYAMA’s position from the capital’s viewpoint
1-3 SATOYAMA‘s multiple functions
2. SATOYAMA from the viewpoint of Biodiversity
2-1 Biodiversity’s definition
2-2 SATOYAMA traditional balance sysytem
2-3 SATOYAMA’s economic value
3. Conclusion
1 What is SATOYAMA?
1-1 SATOYAMA’s definition -What is SATOYAMA?-
SATOYAMA was a traditional place where people have gotten necessary food, fuel and energy for living off natural land. The land structure consists of woods, banks, ponds, marshes, rice fields, streams, and houses. These were all unremittingly made by human beings to prove them with a more convenient life style. Therefore, SATOYAMA plays a very important part in human’s life to preserve. In order to protect SATOYAMA we can not rely only on nature, conservation will help to improve SATOYAMA. So to speak, SATOYAMA is a place that nature makes richer by using itself. We don’t want to over manage and over intrude, but we think that sustainable management is essential. In SATOYAMA, cycle, scale, and strength of disturbance settled down using production, don’t spoil natural reproduction this means that people used as they sustained land diversity and the area standard commons management.
Therefore, SATOYAMA is artificially constructed and sustained, we can say that people formed a sustainable society in SATOYAMA.
--Our seminar action; one example of SATOYAMA in Takayama located in Ikoma City--
Kishi seminar did regeneration and conservation for SATOYAMA from November 2004 at Kansai Science City of Takayama in Ikoma city. In the old days local people made use of many components of SATOYAMA, however, present SATOYAMA is losing its originality through recent city development and aging farmers. While this area is being broken down by city development, forest of bamboo what erosion fallow field and woods and we have to provide conservation for species which are in danger of extinction for example of the GOSHAWK(Accipiter gentilis). Now, we prepare rice crop at fallow fields and cut bamboo as part of the regeneration and conservation of SATOYAMA. In this Takayama area where there are various problems, we can experience many things through these activities.
Through these actual activities, we hope to approximate this SATOYAMA to the SATOYAMA that should be naturally, and to reclaim SATOYAMA so that many species will stay alive. Still, we are studying ways by which this community is being conserved.
1-2 SATOYAMA’s position from the viewpoint the capital
Next, let’s think about SATOYAMA from the perspective of capital. Originally, the capital of the world is divided roughly into two groups. The first point is natural capital. It is produced by nature and is important to sustain lives.
Ex.> Ocean and land etc.
The second point is artificial capital that we need when producing articles
Ex.> factory etc.
Now, which capital is SATOYAMA? Our answer is that we don’t think either capital, no. SATOYAMA has both capital features rather than neither. Then, SATOYMA compromises of natural capitals which change by articles of investments. From this we are able to understand when there is good nature and ecosystem management in SATOYAMA, then various useful goods are produced there.
1-3 SATOYAMA’s multiple functions
For example, SATOYAMA forms traditional culture, containing a relax place, purifying water, atmosphere and damming water. We’ll examine biodiversity that we think is specially related to SATOYAMA in many functions because the problem of biodiversity is recently becoming a big problem that the Japanese government is wrestling with “new biodiversity national strategy” that is based on biodiversity agreement. This strategy says that “biodiversity has useful values from society, economy, science, education, art and recreation perspective.”
2 SATOYAMA from the viewpoint of Biodiversity
2-1 Definition of Biodiversity
Biodiversity is generally defined as having three levels. : gene, species, and ecosystem. The root is in the base sequence of DNA with the diversity of genes. It changes depending on the level of the solid in proportion to the size of the mutation of each gene even if it is the same living things. The mutation of the gene is also diversified now.
In general, it is possible to catch with the species diversity as a kind of the living things in a certain region. spatial size is not strictly defined, but we learn of relative change in diversity in the investigative area. As for tropical forests and coral reefs, the species diversity is known to be high. Actually, the temperature is high, the nutritive salts such as phosphorus and nitrogen exists in the body of living things, and the one in which there are little inorganic substances admits that diversity is high in the ecosystem which has decreased.
Finally, the diversity of the ecosystem is to have living strategy that various living things are different in the faction, that is, a different function and the role. The forest may be included in each region of the earth, meadows, and the varieties of the regional ecosystems such as the deserts, arable lands, and cities. These accept diversity as such a level as diversity which is the same as the spectacle level.
2-2 SATOYAMA’s Traditional balance system
Let's think about the importance of the biodiversity in SATOYAMA by describing the changes in the use of SATOYAMA.
Traditional SATOYAMA is included in the farm village ecosystem before the fuel revolution occurred. At that time there were necessary foods and energy to sustain human’s existence. Forest woods were cut to obtain firewood and then the ecology retreated temporarily because of man's disturbance. Still the diversity of living things was preserved at high level. In other words, it means the environmental function circulated naturally as a part of man, and the living things in SATOYAMA. Then using the environment that man produced well and having led life was provided in the traditional SATOYAMA. However, recently people cannot find the value of SATOYAMA to own life even though they are the owners, neither the woods nor the rice fields are used, and cultivation in the farmland on the ravine ground is abandoned.
If these are not recovered, it will be directly exposed to extermination or the danger of extermination that living things in SATOYAMA will recover. Thus, in a modern SATOYAMA, there are no excessive uses or deprivation but deterioration in resources.
This is to happen opposite to "Tragedy of Commons", and to be being lost the social common capital like the biodiversity. SATOYAMA’s biodiversity is the one that cannot be removed from the human race's living rather than giving birth to economic benefit on which the advanced country exists.
2-3 SATOYAMA’s Economical value
Direct economical value of SATOYAMA has renewable energy, food, fuel, and other necessities. Indirect economical value has purified of water and air, eases of flood, controls of land size, stabilizes, the degradation of waste, partial moderation and amelioration, or stabilization of climate.
Support of human culture, recreational sites, detoxification and decomposition of waste, general and renewal of soil, fertility, pollination of crops and natural vegetation, moderation of the force of winds …etc.
However, up to now, after the fuel revolution of the fuel, almost all the economic value of SATOYAMA has been assumed to be valueless. When we are about to maintain SATOYAMA, conversion to a new social economic system in which SATOYAMA can be taken into the economy again and that following the circulation of matter and energy in nature’s ecosystem is indispensable. It is necessary to maintain SATOYAMA in a sustainable society which can overcome crises of global environment. SATOYAMA is symbol of not only natural environment of the farm village, but also the sustainability of society.
The first energy enters resources and the second natural, and then it circulates in the society of man and second nature. Life waste that generated in the human society is abandoned into the second nature and in the first nature.
Under such a series of circulation, especially the system of the second nature is called “Ecosystem of traditional SATOYAMA".
First Nature: Nature that exist without human's care. ex)Virgin forest etc.
Second Nature: Nature that human moderately took care of. ex)SATOYAMA etc.
3 Conclusion
Various components in SATOYAMA include a reservoir, a coppice, rice fields, and brooks as having described by us exist, and is consistant with people's lives. SATOYAMA was an indispensable place for people, and people who lived there was also indispensable for SATOYAMA to maintain the role. However, the role of traditional SATOYAMA seems to be lost in contemporary societies.
Various values exist in SATOYAMA. SATOYAMA is necessary and indispensable for the human race as discussed in living things diversity in SATOYAMA in the second section, "It is the one that is necessary for life of the human race rather than giving birth to economic benefits by which advanced countries exist". Moreover, it discussed.
People's sustainable society can be formed by effectively using various values that have been described up to now. So the maintenance of SATOYAMA can be said that to be important.
References
1. Global Environmental Research “Traditional Sustainable Ecosystem ‘Satoyama’ and Biodiversity Crisis in Japan: Conservation Ecological Perspective” 2001 Izumi WASHITANI
2. 農山漁村と生物多様性 宇田川武俊編 家の光協会 2000
3. はじめての環境経済学 ジェフリーヒール著 東洋経済新報社 2005
Why ‘SATOYAMA’ is important?
-IAESTE JAPAN Summer Event 2005-
Questions, Opinions, and Answers
Kishi Seminar, Faculty of Economics Doshisha University
1-1 Prof. TANIMOTO’s Question
1) “What on earth is SATOYAMA’s definition?”
- The answer -
SATOYAMA is a place where various components such as the coppice, banks, reservoirs, marshes, rice fields, brooks, and houses exist. In addition, nature in SATOYAMA is secondary nature in which man added a moderate hand. People have traditionally led lives such of secondary nature. Nature in SATOYAMA has been constructed by man's life, and furthermore maintained.
2) “What on earth is the relation between the forest and the SATOYAMA?”
-The answer-
We think that there is a definite difference between SATOYAMA and the forest. This is the relations between man and each other. Some people's hands add to the forest in SATOYAMA though there is certainly something that is called SATOYAMA a forest, however, the forest also includes the forest like the primeval forest that man's hand still does not create. It can be said that the forest in General will show the forest where the hand of man in SATOYAMA added; forest like the primeval forest did not create synthetically. If this is shown in figure, it becomes the following. (Figure 1)
1-2 Prof. TANIMOTO’s Private Opinion
“SATOYAMA is able to compare with the concept of “Totoro” that the model of the SATOYAMA did not exist in the feature West in Japan. There is “Grove of a village shrine” in Japan, and a very strong relation in SATOYAMA.”
-The impression-
SATOYAMA is a place that has been brought up in symbiosis with man, and it might be able to be said that it will have walked exactly with man. However, in recent years the chance to be conscious of the blessing from the nature decreases, and the destruction of nature is furthermore advanced though man has lived for a long time with nature. It is likely to approach at time when the idea to nature is renewed.
2-1 Prof. SHINOHARA’s Question
“What is the difference between SATOYAMA and Commons?”
-The answer-
Commons is a resource of which the ownership belongs no specific individual but the community and entire society. On the other hand, in SATOYAMA only the resource jointly managed by various people and.there are various forms of ownership resources. If resources like those of the Commons are jointly managed these might certainly be abundant in SATOYAMA. Also there are resources in the ownership management form of other individuals; therefore, Commons only means one of the ownership management forms. In the hometown mountains, there are neither SATOYAMA nor Commons about the comparison though do. If this is shown in figure, it becomes the following. (Figure 2)