Invasive Alien Species Control and Public Participation: Case Study of the Ogasawara Islands

Abstract

The Ogasawara Islands were registered as a Natural World Heritage in 2011. The land snails of the Ogasawaras are an important group of organisms that guarantee their universal value as a World Heritage Site. In particular, the uninhabited island of Ani-Jima has high genetic diversity and is of great importance for conservation. In recent years, however, there has been noticeable damage to the land snails of Ani-Jima caused by rats. The Ministry of the Environment has implemented a rodenticide aerial spraying project for rat control since FY2009. The project failed, however, due to lack of communication with residents and lack of trust. In this study, introducing strategies for measures against alien species and conservation of endemic species by introducing an analysis of residents’ interests and proposals for procedures based on the findings of the rat verification committee, in which the author has been involved as a chairperson. In projects with high uncertainty, such as rat control, it is important to adopt not only the concept of adaptive management but also an adaptive governance approach, which can be used to formulate a decision-making process for community participation that fully takes into account the concerns of the local residents.