The Satoyama Landscape of Japan: The Future of an Indigenous Agricultural System in an Industrialized Society

Abstract

Satoyama refers to an indigenous agricultural system of Japan that evolved through long-term interaction between human beings and their local environments. As in many indigenous agricultural systems, it is characterized by integrated landscapes comprised of diverse uses including, but not limited to, paddy fields, farmland, managed and secondary woodland, grasslands, irrigation ponds and canals, and human settlements, all located in close proximity to one another. In environmental terms, this land use variety translates into “biodiversity,” a benefit that synergistically aids both the human inhabitants and the nature it consists of. Further benefits include sustainability, supplemental income, building materials and food, adjusting local microclimate, flood prevention, and culture preservation. Satoyama landscapes, like other systems based on indigenous knowledge around the world, have suffered a period of decline. Efforts are being taken in Japan to revive and conserve these systems and the indigenous knowledge and cultural heritage they represent, and international initiatives (e.g., the Satoyama Initiative) have begun to collect and distribute relevant information on these systems, such as management techniques and cultural value, in hopes of aiding biodiversity-focused land use and the associated human benefits everywhere.KeywordsBiodiversity conservationIndigenous knowledgeLandscape mosaicUrbanization