Forest Recovery Process in the Satoyama Working Landscapes of the Northern Keihanna Hills in the Modern Era

Abstract

The period and process of forest recovery in the Satoyama working landscapes were reconstructed using old topographical maps of the northern Keihanna Hills in western Japan. The surveyed areas are thought to have transformed simultaneously from non-forested lands, such as badlands, meadows, and shrub lands, into woodlands in a short period from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. A pioneer tree, Pinus densiflora, may have dominated the newly established woodlands in the beginning, followed by takeover by broad-leaved woodlands in a portion of the pine woodlands in the 1970's. Two factors are thought to be the driving forces of this observed forest recovery from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. The first is the use of forest protection policies such as legal regulation and afforestation promotion projects undertaken by the then government, and the second is the reduced need for grasses and shrubs, which were once used extensively as green manure in the traditional farming systems.