In this study, we improved and further developed the existing GIS-based model for screening terraced rice lots in its conservation priority with focuses on three aspects; landscape value, agricultural efficiency and disaster prevention function. Then the model was applied to the Wakayama Prefecture area within the Kii Peninsula region in central Japan, in which has a clear north-south gradient in geological features. As the results, constructed model performed effectively in selecting rice lots with higher conservation priority within 10km spatial scale. Moreover, in the northern part of the prefecture, agricultural efficiency was an important aspect in the model, whereas landscape value and disaster prevention function were also detected in the middle and southern parts, respectively. Prefectural governmental officials in charge of terraced paddy conservation policies, who were interviewed, supported an applicability of this model in actual institutional fields because it was guaranteed by scientific approaches. Based upon these figures, we proposed that at prefectural spatial scale the model calibrated among three aspects depending on geologic and topographic conditions could be utilized for prioritizing terraced paddies without serious regional inequalities in institutional supports.
