Abstract
This study analyzes the evolution of the activities of the Aso Green Stock Foundation, a volunteer organization formed in 1995 mainly by urban residents to support the burning of wild land in order to conserve the local natural environment through urban-rural exchange, and examines the characteristics of the development of natural resource management activities in collaboration with local residents. The research method was based on a literature review of the foundation’s newsletter, which was divided into periods based on (1) changes in management in the activities of the Noyaki Volunteers and (2) the creation of new projects in cooperation with the local agriculture and livestock industry. As a result, the 28 years of activities of Aso Green Stock were divided into six periods: “The period of starting activities of dispatching volunteers for burning wild land (1991-1999),” “The birth of the association of volunteers for burning wild land and its development into an urban-rural exchange project (2000-2005),”and “The period of expansion of stakeholders of grassland restoration in Aso and members of the volunteer association for burning wild land (2005-2011）,” “Enhancement of safety management of volunteer wildfire volunteers and local reconstruction after disasters (2012-2015),” “Grassland restoration through livelihood reconstruction and tourism promotion after the Kumamoto earthquake (2016-2019),”and “Grassland conservation in collaboration with multispecies industry (2020-2023).”
