現代日本の農山村における資源管理の担い手問題

－過少利用下での世代交代を視野に入れて－

抄録

The regional or local resources in Japan's rural villages used and managed by local farmers are called “secondary nature”. The so‒called satoyama scenery of rural areas, such as rice paddies, irrigation ponds, miscellaneous forests, and grasslands, were the creations of people and have been managed and maintained with their labor.

However, cultivated lands are increasingly being abandoned as they no longer generate income, and these resources are becoming underutilized. Not only is the living environment of the rural villages directly using the resources affected, but so, too, are downstream urban areas, due to landslides and floods.

In this context, opportunities are growing for a reexamination of the value of these resources from an external economic point of view and for maintenance activities by urban residents. For example, there is a movement in Sada Town, Izumo City, Shimane prefecture, to unify rural communities and regional agriculture. In Tokamachi City, Niigata Prefecture, too, regional support personnel are renewing connections among residents and endeavoring to create new livelihoods through community development.

As we consider the current problems in managing regional resources, we cannot overlook the hollowing out of rights rooted in private ownership, or, in other words, the issue of how family property is managed and disposed of. Rural villages need to create mechanisms for rebuilding their economic and social environment such that they can absorb external talent and be passed on to the next generation.