森林管理計画策定における参加と合意のプロセス・デザイン

－「やんばる国頭村森林地域ゾーニング計画」策定の試み－

抄録

  This paper clarifies the following three points concerning the consensus building process for establishing the semitropical forest management zoning plan of the Yambaru Forest, Kunigami Village in Okinawa, Japan. The authors were members of the planning project team organized by the local government of Kunigami Village in 2009. The first point is how it was possible to overcome the various conflicts among stakeholders in the process of establishing forest zoning plan. The second is how the consensus building process was designed so as to build fair relationships among participants and encourage them to respect different interests. The third is how the consensus building process was implemented.

  Both Forest Education (FE) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) aim at cultivating people’s understanding of the environmental conditions of a particular area and enhancing the ability to solve identified issues. The process of collaboration in drafting a forest plan has important educational value because it creates an opportunity for participants to think about forest use from different perspectives. The process of discussing possible solutions to the problems also contains a significant educational value. This is because the stakeholders who have an interest in and concern for forest management are given an opportunity to learn much about their home and its environs. This paper focuses on a participatory consensus building process from the perspective of environmental education and examines its significance as an educational opportunity. It argues that it is critically important to include communicative processes that encourage participants to share a variety of ideas and identify different ways to value the forest. By implementing such participatory processes, people can reach a better plan for sustainable forest management and initiate actions to realiza the shared plan.