Abstract
Vast and beautiful grassland landscapes in the Aso Kuju National Park have been maintained by human activities e.g. controlled burning, pasturage and mowing. However, the aging of local farmers and the stagnation of livestock industry make such grassland management increasingly difficult. A successful landscape management of extensive grasslands and forests requires a consensus between grassland restoration and timber forest operation, because locals’ opinions vary. A hearing survey is conducted for rating scale analysis on 46 examinees from three volunteer groups working on grasslands restoration by evaluating five different types of grassland sceneries. By means of map-based questionnaire, desirable areas for future restoration are extracted. The result clarifies that the types of grasslands, which volunteers commonly put a high priority of restoration, are “grasslands of flat and smooth hillside (type E)” and “grasslands observed from major viewpoints (type A)” located around the central crater hill. In Kita-gairin (northern outer rim of the crater) with vast and undulating grasslands, volunteers expect the restoration of roadside grasslands. In Minami-gairin (southern outer rim), the survey clarifies the grassland areas of high restoration priority for the reason of biodiversity as well as scenic importance.
