Long term change of land use in Ishigaki Island, Japan

Abstract

The differences in land resource use methods depend largely on climate change, the natural situation of the area and society. Until now, there has been much research on climate change and the impact of economic globalization on land use in the region, but land use hasn’t been discussed as a regional strategy. In this research, the land use map was reconstructed while paying attention to the historical changes of Ishigaki Island in Japan. Tourism is the main industry in the island. However, coral reefs, which are important as tourism resources, have been threatened by red soil runoff from farmland and development sites. Red soil runoff became worse in the pineapple boom that has occurred since the 1950s. After that, the “Red soil prevention law of Okinawa Prefecture” was enacted in 1994, and the red soil runoff was suppressed. Based on these social changes, we reconstructed the land use maps in 1921 (before pineapple boom), 1966 (the pineapple boom) and 2004 (after Red Earth Ordinance). As a result, it was found that the cultivated area of pineapple is expanding and reducing with the pineapple boom.