This study elucidates the formation process of environmental governance involving a multitude of various community grazing associations. Focusing on the role of the Aso Grassland Restoration Council, the research examines its efforts to facilitate collaboration between community grazing associations to address grassland underutilization and external organizations such as administrative bodies and private enterprises. The analysis draws on interviews with stakeholders from the council and grazing associations, as well as observations by participants in council activities. The findings reveal that a phased approach is crucial in the early stages of establishing an environmental governance organization. The study also underscores the critical role of mediators in facilitating interactions between commons management organizations and governance bodies, as well as the importance of coordinators in managing relationships with administrative agencies. Furthermore, the findings of this study highlight the need for initiatives that embrace the diversity of commons management organizations in order to ensure effective governance.

This paper focuses on Landcare, which developed in Australia in the 1980s as an approach to tackle local/regional environmental problems (e.g., land degradation) by local volunteer groups based on local autonomy and collaboration. We review the history of Landcare from the perspective of environmental policy integration and examine the issues that the federal government must recognize in order to integrate Landcare into its environmental policy effectively. Through literature survey and document analysis, we have identified three critical factors that the federal government should take into account, which are: 1) cost savings in environmental management through Landcare mobilization, 2) effectiveness and flexibility for biodiversity conservation on the ground, and 3) adjustment costs needed to deploy context-sensitive environmental policy. More interdisciplinary research is needed to apply the concepts and approach of Landcare in Japan to promote biodiversity conservation with the aim of achieving a nature-positive future.