The Land Use/Cover Change Programme in Japan: A Review and Proposals

Abstract

International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Programme (HDP) jointly established CPPC-LUCC, or Core Project Planning Committee for the Land Use/Cover Change Programme, in early 1993. CPPC is expected to issue its proposal for LUCC in autumn 1994, and a number of LUCC projects will be launched in 1995 throughout the world. Japan is expected to play an important role in LUCC. It is important for Japan to present its own research plan for LUCC-Japan without delay. Although the CPPC's elaboration of the LUCC plan is thorough, it nevertheless has drawbacks and biases. A critical review of formal and informal documents related to LUCC has revealed some problems, including the following: a) CPPC is strongly conditioned by the existing IGBP, and as a result it fails to fully incorporate the “human dimension” in LUCC. b) CPPC does not seem to appreciate land use/cover as an important element of the human environment in its own right. c) The value and the role of models are overstated, and the study of actual situations and dynamics of land use/cover change is conceived relatively lightly. d) The compilation and analyses of historical data and information are important but difficult parts of LUCC, but CPPC fails to present a sound operational strategy for them. e) Guidelines for national projects, international research networks etc. are not yet clear. It is important for Japan not only to ask CPPC to elaborate the above points, but to make its own research plan that can lead to the success of LUCC-Japan. Japan should define East Asia, including Japan, as a region of primary importance, and pursue intensive study of land use/cover change, including field surveys, database compilation and analyses, and modelling. The Circum-Pacific region should be defined as the “Associated Region”, where a range of coordinated studies are carried out as to international relations and land use/cover change. © 1994, The Association of Japanese Geographers. All rights reserved.