2006 Volume 29 Issue 2 Pages 30-38
A comprehensive policy for sustainable management of land use is required in Japan because of the remarkable ruin of less-favored areas. At present, the government is undertaking a new catchment approach strategy for the environmental and socioeconomic balance between the urban and rural areas. In order to conserve biosphere diversity and achieve compatibility between nature and society, the “Legislation for Natural Restoration” was enacted on January 1, 2003.
This study focuses on the Hororo river area in the Kushiro river basin in Hokkaido, where one of the five pilot nature restoration projects based on the law has been launched. The main objective of this study is to analyze the cross-section themes in the implementation of the project planned in the boundary zone between the land used for agricultural and the wetlands.
The result of this study implies the need for a planning system for the integrated river basin management plan by the cooperation of the local authorities of the catchment; this includes the following issues: (a) enforcement of local initiative for land use planning, (b) formation of socioeconomic players for land use management by participation in the project, and (c) effective use of the nature restoration projects for regional development.
