Local assessment of Tokyo: Satoyama and satoumi – traditional landscapes and management practices in a contemporary urban environment

Abstract

This assessment explores the Japanese concepts of satoyama and satoumi (land and coastal), as possible strategies for sustainable management and governance of common urban ecological resources. Satoyama and satoumi are described as landscape types, and management approaches to land and coastal areas that build on a mosaic composition of ecosystem types and their inherent interlinkages. The management practices and the rich biodiversity of the landscapes are thus mutually interdependent. It is acknowledged in the assessment that local governments play a critical role for the management of urban ecosystems and conservation of biodiversity, which is especially important in the face of the unprecedented urban growth currently ongoing globally. This assessment provides an overview of the urbanization trends in Japan, with related challenges to ecosystem provisioning, and the opportunities for sustainable management that a satoyama and satoumi approach can present. Some international examples of ecosystem management that in different ways can inspire transformation of governance structures in Japan to support urban satoyama and satoumi are highlighted.