2012 Volume 16 Issue 2 Pages 173-179
Major characteristics, functions and recent changes in satoyama and satoumi landscapes are analyzed, in addition to the needs and conditions for enhancing the values added to the ecosystem services, focusing on satoyama resources. Since the 1960s, many rural communities have been faced with the difficult situation of losing their resource base and social community ties, due mainly to the problems of depopulation and aging of society confronting contemporary Japanese society. This study demonstrates that ecosystem services may be regarded as scarce resources having quantifiable economic values, and since traditional markets do not capture these values, subsequent market failures are caused by inefficient allocation of the scarce resources. The Sub-global Assessment of Satoyama and Satoumi in Japan (Japan SGA) has shown that in the process of urbanization and globalization of economies, many of the social relationships in metropolitan areas have changed dramatically, too. Japanese people today do not recognize or even know the origins of ecosystem services they utilize. This itself indicates changes in and weakened social relationships of Japanese society today. During the process of the Satoyama and Satoumi SGA, the necessity of a new form of resource management unit (a “new commons”) was pointed out, as people expect new roles to be fulfilled by the satoyama and satoumi under the strong pressures of resource loss or quality degradation. A new market-based form of economic mechanism, such as payment for ecosystem services, should be adopted.
