2015 Volume 124 Issue 1 Pages 43-63
The nature guide activities have expanded in Oshima Town and cover various regional facets. Oshima Town has five nature guide organizations, in which nature guides have played various roles ever since they were established. Immediately after Mt. Mihara erupted in 1986, two organizations were set up to protect natural resources and explore the natural environment of the region. In the late 1990s, volunteer guide groups were organized to guide visitors. In addition, a paid guide organization, established in 2009, played a key role in offering interpreting services to tourists who joined guided tours. In 2010, Oshima Town was certified as a Japanese Geopark. Since then, paid guides have played important roles in interpreting the activities of the geopark to local people. Paid guides cooperate in geopark activities to complement the role played by nature guides. The various aspects of nature guide activities and the organizations in Oshima Town and their foundations can be summarized as follows: (1) A number of nature guide organizations have been created whose collective knowledge about the environment of Oshima Town serves as a strong foundation for their guide activities; (2) Paid guides in the geopark have developed multi-layered relationships with a focus on key guides; and (3) After Oshima Town was certified as a Japanese Geopark, paid guides have developed relationships with local residents. They are helping to construct a regional identity and rediscover the regional characteristics of Oshima Town.
