This paper introduces the former draft ordinance in the process of the enactment of the Tokyo Metropolitan Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (October 1980) and the residents’ movements surrounding the draft ordinance, based on materials preserved by the private sector. In the 1970s, against the backdrop of growing public movements calling for anti-pollution, environmental conservation, and local autonomy, public opinion demanded that the environmental assessment system should be implemented at the planning stage, integrated with the social economy, and guaranteed opportunities for a wide range of participation. By documenting the activities of our predecessors in the early days of environmental impact assessment, we would like to help consider the future of the environmental assessment system.

“The Forest of Accipiter gentilis, Daisen, Tottori Prefecture” is managed and protected in cooperation with the government (Tottori prefecture and Daisen town), academic institutions, corporations, nature conservation organization and citizen. The mega-solar power plant (CS Daisen Kiyomizuhara Power Plant, 34ha, 20MW) was constructed next to this forest in 2017. Therefore, we assessed the birds appearance before and after the construction of the mega-solar plant. As a result, we found that the total number of species decreased in the sites converted from the farmland and windbreak forest to a mega-solar plant. Conversely, the total number of species increased in the sites where the forest remained before and after the construction of the mega-solar power plant.