A Study on the Function of Conservation Agreements with NPOs

—A Case Study on the National Trust for Scotland—

Abstract

This study aims to clarify the function of conservation agreements with NPOs and the historical change in this function in the case of the National Trust for Scotland (NTS), which is the NPO that conserves natural and historic heritage in Scotland. The study was conducted by researching data and documents provided by the NTS and by contrasting the conservation agreement with similar agreements in Japan. The findings obtained from the study are summarized as follows: before the 1970s, there were only a few voluntary conservation agreements. In the 1970s and 1980s, agreements that quite likely aimed to conserve natural heritage, such as coastal areas, increased in number, as did complementary agreements, when the NTS disposed of properties such as those under the Little Houses Improvement Scheme (LHIS). In and after the 1990s, most conservation agreements were made with disposals of crofting land. It is suggested that the conservation NPOs in Japan can make conservation activities more effective not only through acquisition, but also by using conservation agreements.