We clarified the structure of rating of nature-harmonious and low-carbon urban environment using data obtained from residents in Japan. A city model was constructed to evaluate CO2 emissions of a city. The constructed city model targets building space, road space, and parks and green space. In this model, “land use conversion” for nature-harmonious and low-carbon urban development was specified for each type of space so that the target CO2 emission from each space was reduced by 0.1%. A questionnaire was distributed to residents to identify the (1) factors affecting the rating of the living environment by residents in relation to their lifestyle, (2) preferred type of land use conversion, (3) choice of land use conversion to realize the CO2 emission reduction target (13%) of the standard city model, and (4) overall rating of a nature-harmonious and low-carbon environment by residents (hereafter, overall rating). After collecting questionnaire responses, covariance structure analysis was conducted to determine the relationship among items (1), (2), and (4). We found that the overall rating of the entire city was affected by the preferred type of land use conversion, which was in turn affected by the lifestyle preferences of residents. Considering these findings, we propose appropriate directions for the future development of a nature-harmonious and low-carbon urban environment.

View full abstract

A substantial number of studies have shown that community-based approaches are more effective for conservation and natural resource management, since they promote selforganised governance in which the rules are devised and modified by the resource users and mutual monitoring is enforced. On the other hand, challenges of community-based conservation such as the lack of human and financial resources in local communities are expected to be tackled by ecotourism that was originally designed for financial benefits, conservation, local communities, and environmental education. Based on these theories, this study focuses on a case of forest conservation in Cambodia, in which people rely heavily on forest resources, to clarify the current situation and underlying issues for policy development of community-based conservation in the country. Results show that ecotourism has contributed to community-based conservation as the assumption, and positive outcomes for conservation were ascertained. Furthermore, it is also suggested that social capital was strengthened through communitybased approaches, which is expected to promote the self-organised system. In this case, a combination of community-based approaches seems to complement mutually existing challenges.

View full abstract