Payments for ecosystem/environmental services (PES) have emerged internationally as a new environmental conservation concept over the past two decades. By contrast, Japan has a centuries-long history of using various forms of PES. These schemes can be understood as solutions to interregional problems with forest ecosystem services that have been agreed upon and accepted by the society. This paper aims to consider the significance of PES with respect to cooperative relationships by examining historically formed solutions in Japan. The Japanese experience shows that rather than simply being a demonstration of monetary value, PES in upstream forests were a means of communication across regions, expressing interregional solidarity as a core concept. As connections among communities became less visible, the government artificially created solidarity through payments. The payments gradually shifted from having a socioeconomic meaning to having a psychological meaning. The government sought to substantiate the sense of solidarity by making individual users more aware of the meaning of payments. We can find the significance of this type of PES in the fact that payments can be a way to approach the issue of building solidarity by focusing on the function of payments as messengers rather than them merely having an economic value.
In this study, based on the results of questionnaire surveys conducted in municipalities throughout Japan, we clarified the size and expertise of forest administration staff and examined the possible impact of these factors on forest administration. In recent years, the workload of municipal forest administration has increased at a rate outpacing the staff increase, and most municipalities have indicated feeling understaffed. Municipalities with large forest administration staff often have staff members with expertise, perform a relatively wide range of work types, and frequently visit forests. However, municipalities with higher number of staff indicate feeling more understaffed than municipalities with lesser staff numbers. Conversely, many municipalities that do not feel understaffed have a low amount of forest-related work. Many municipalities, including those with expertise, indicate feeling a lack of knowledge in identifying broadleaf trees and high-risk mountain disaster areas. Some municipalities with low staff numbers do not have the opportunities to focus on the need to identify high-risk mountain disaster areas through their work. The results of this survey indicate that the number of staff and their expertise may affect the scope and level of forest administration work, such as the extent of field inspections and risk assessments.
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