2000 Volume 5 Issue 1-2 Pages 21-45
An extensive renovation of the woodland zone in the City Park on Kureha Ridge, Toyama City, was conducted by the City Government from 1991 to 1993. This project included extensive logging and severe disturbance of the undergrowth in the deciduous forests (secondary but very mature) of the park area. This resulted in exceedingly severe modification and damage of the woodland environment in the foothills. Using the mail shot method, we conducted a questionaire to examine the response of Toyama citizens to this project. 1028 families were selected for the survey, of which 256 (24.9%) have responded to the questionaire. Several tendencies were evident in the citizens' response to the project itself, the degree of their utilization of the foothills and their opinions on restoration and management of the woodlands there. The contingent valuation method was applied to assess the financial loss of natural resources and damage to the woodland environment. The estimated amount each family willing to pay for restoration of the foothill environments as a whole was about 2,800 yen. This results in about a total of 300 million yens from all citizens in Toyama City.
