著者

山下 良平

出版者

日本地域学会

雑誌

地域学研究 (ISSN:02876256)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.48, no.1, pp.117-131, 2018 (Released:2018-11-16)

参考文献数

17

被引用文献数

1 1

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This paper focuses on the problems of foreign company acquisition of forests in the water source areas (WSAs) of Japan. We conducted a verification of the hypothesis “Will clarification of land registers and awakening interest in the promotion of collaboration between government and forestry workers lead to the maintenance of stable WSAs ?” Specifically, individual interest in the hypothetical policy scenario for clarification of land registers and strengthening of the connection between government and forestry workers was used as a proxy for the willingness to pay (WTP) policy implementation costs. Moreover, this standard was evaluated through a comparison among regions, taking forest acquisition as the basis. Land ownership of the many forest lands in Japan, including WSAs, is unclear, and the reality is that the work of ascertaining this requires the understanding and cooperation of not only prefectures but also municipalities and local forestry workers. Based on this, we constructed two scenarios. The first scenario was the implementation of “a policy to clarify the unclear forest ownership structure for the conservation of WSAs.” The second scenario consisted of the incorporation of the concept of co-management in forest management and implementation of “a policy related to business development to promote collaboration between government and local forestry workers.” These two scenarios were not meant to function as direct prevention of forest acquisition but rather as a contribution to sound maintenance and management of forest areas extending from the WSAs to mountains near villages. Further, as a form of resident participation in the management of WSAs, we measured and compared the WTP for the costs required for implementing the policy. Data collection was conducted from 2016 to 2017 through internet research. The number of samples of residents in regions with a history of forest acquisition was 1,513, and in regions with no such history, the number was 2,209. The WTP was estimated using the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), with initial costs of 300 (yen/year per household), 1,000 (yen/year per household), 3,000 (yen/year or household), and 10,000 (yen/year or household). A comparison of the WTP amounts for the two scenarios showed that the WTP of residents of regions with a history of forest acquisition for scenario one was 876 yen, and for regions with no history, the WTP was 776 yen. Similarly, the WTP amounts for residents of regions with a history of forest acquisition for scenario two was 1,851 yen, and for regions with no history, WTP was 1,371 yen. With respect to factors that influenced the WTP, the influence of regional differences was partial and differences in the recognition of individuals had a stronger influence on the WTP than a comparison of regional differences and differences in the recognition of individuals. This study suggests that the estimated WTP is extremely beneficial for the system design of forest policies implemented at the national level or the municipal level.JEL Classification:Q10, Q15, R52