Preservation and preemption in Japan’s Shirakami Sanchi World Heritage Area

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine developments in Japan with regard to protected-area management. The focus is on ecological protection, citizen engagement, and the traditional users of the Shirakami Sanchi World Heritage Area. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on an extensive review of literature, interviews with key actors, and field observations. Findings – This study of Shirakami Sanchi World Heritage Area, an area of ancient beech forest in northern Japan whose ecological integrity was threatened by construction of a forest road in the 1980s, points to a successful case of ecological preservation and an expanded governmental commitment to citizen engagement in protected-area planning, accompanied by a marginalization of the small number of remaining traditional users of the forest’s resources. Research limitations/implications – This study points to the challenges inherent in balancing civic engagement, ecological protection, cultural heritage, and administrative expediency in protected-areas management. The findings are directed toward researchers engaged with issues surrounding management of parks and protected areas. Practical implications – Park and protected-areas managers can learn from this experience about balancing ecosystem protection, civic engagement, inclusion of traditional users, and administrative optimization in planning and management of protected areas. Originality/value – The field elements of the study are original contributions. The paper will be of value to scholars and practitioners involved with protected-area management.

Gerenciamento de Áreas Protegidas após a Publicação das Metas de Aichi: revisão de escopo ## Management of Protected Areas after the Publication of Aichi Targets: scope review

“…Na fase da leitura integral do conteúdo, um artigo foi excluído por indisponibilidade de acesso e cinco por não abrangerem diretamente o tema e concentrarem suas abordagens em assuntos relacionados à: evolução histórica de áreas protegidas e a preservação ecológica (Mason, 2015); integração da educação ambiental aos instrumentos de planejamento (Zorrilla-Pujana & Rossi, 2014); incentivos financeiros como um fator determinante da governança da área protegida (Clifton, Osman, Suggett, & Smith, 2019) Após a releitura dos 32 artigos elegidos para análise, foi realizada a exportação dos dados das bases de dados no formato de CSV, de maneira que foi possível utilizá-los em planilhas do Excel, onde foi constituído o Corpus Textual para auxiliar a análise temática dos artigos. Ainda foram utilizadas as ferramentas de análise online disponíveis nas bases de dados e o software VOSviewer para auxiliar na identificação de possíveis coautorias.…”