For the purposes of biodiversity conservation it is becoming increasingly important to evaluate urban fringe forests as protected areas. From now on, it is essential to clarify the characteristics of high priority forests for conservation, including their governance. In this study, we conducted evaluations based on spatial distribution of urban fringe forests and individual governance in the southern region of Ibaraki Prefecture. Here we show sites with high value for conservation by the index Vh-h, which evaluate surrounding forests and urban land cover. Furthermore, we evaluated governance by land ownership based on the local forest planning. As a result, the proportion of area with the local forest planning was significantly lower for highly evaluated forests by Vh-h. This means that there are many urban fringe forests that are not subject to the governance for the local forest planning. We suggest that the evaluation based on such index for establishing ecosystem networks in urban landscapes.
